I got some Texas stops in as we headed ever eastward towards Florida. But the weather was pretty crappy (clouds) and there was some giant accident on I-20 in the middle of nowhere that had us at a standstill for hours. There will be a lot more Texas later in the trip since I had a detour to pick up a “passenger” in Oklahoma.

I’ll have to return to Sweetwater sometime to get this Masonic sign in the sun. What about those wires? I even PhotoShopped a few out:

A ratty looking (but still wonderful) former Whataburger a-frame in Abilene. I’ve got loads more at my website here:
https://www.roadarch.com/eateries/aframewhata.html

Abilene also has a former Burger Chef which I shot but it’s not worth sharing here (it will go to the website) because it’s pretty much unrecognizable. But what makes this location special is the sign — pretty ugly & painted over:

but it still has that chef piece on top – very, very rare – but I don’t know if there’s enough paint left on either side to ever be restored:

The sun was out in El Paso so I’ll add a couple photos from there. There are still many Arby’s hat signs out there but will be rare enough soon. The chain’s plastic signs are just so hideous, aren’t they? If you’d like to see a long list of the surviving hats (and ever rarer, covered wagon buildings), I’ve got a bunch here:
https://www.roadarch.com/eateries/arbys.html

The smaller American Furniture sign on the side of the building:

Fashion Cleaners in Midland has two signs — wish the sun was out to do them justice:

These magnificent mushroom canopies in Midland were built for Gool Office Machines. The lot has housed numerous used car dealerships since then.

This surprise discovery was tucked inside the Hotel Wooten parking garage in downtown Abilene. Turns out, it only went by this name for a short while. According to Wikipedia: “For several years, the Wooten was rechristened ‘The Abilene Towers Apartments.’ It became notorious for the chunks of masonry and debris that would often rain down on unsuspecting pedestrians below as it crumbled beneath the west Texas sun.”

If you look at the blue part of the panel, you can make out ghost letters for “HOTEL.” If you stare long enough at the red part, you can sort of make out or imagine “WOOTEN.” The sign is now mounted on a wall but it was obviously a projecting sign originally:

Let’s end this post on with a sunny shot — this one in Sierra Blanca. You can see that wonderful ripple tin (lighter than steel’ the crimping strengthens it and holds paint better):

I’m off to add photos to my website — back next weekend-ish with another post. If you are new to my blog, I also add different photos to Flickr simultaneously when I’m working on these posts:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/agilitynut/

Happy trails,
dj & the dogs

Here we go!!! I am back from my 35-day trip to Florida and ready to start banging away on all the photos. I’ve got about 4,000 photos to add to my website, despite the rain and other setbacks. Here at the blog, I’ll be posting a little sampling of photos for each day. At the same time, I’m posting some different photos over at Flickr:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/agilitynut/

I’ll be adding each day’s batch (about 100 photos) to my website as I go. So, this whole process will take many, many months. I hope you enjoy tagging along.

The first stop on this mega-trip was in Buckeye to see Hobo Joe who took about three years to restore and, boy, did they do a terrific job. For more about this guy and what he looked like before this, see my website here:
https://www.roadarch.com/giants/az.html

I finally found out where the Hoop Dancer sign in Tucson was located & got some photos of him. The panels are ripple tin and in great shape. Heather David’s got a nice vintage postcard for context: https://www.flickr.com/photos/14696209@N02/48924229068/

I stopped by the Ignite Sign Art Museum to see what’s new. This one was recently restored. Jude dug through multiple layers of paint with different wording to discover the original name. An amazing project!

Here’s the Grant-Stone sign before it was removed in 2014. It’s safely stored at the museum until, maybe, another location can be found for it.

Here’s a nice oldie at the museum with painted metal panels. For whatever reason, there were very, very few porcelain enamel signs built in Tucson:

And here’s a nice backlit opal letter. I’m crazy about those and have a couple of pages at my website about them with lots of examples:
https://www.roadarch.com/sca/opal.html

Let’s go back to the streets for one more from Tucson — from the long-closed Wee-Went-Wong’s (surely, that can’t be the original name, right?):

More to come in a week or so, after I get Day 1’s photos up at my website.

Happy trails,

dj & the dogs

I snuck out from the COVID stay-at-home order for a little Los Angeles area daytrip last weekend and a San Diego area daytrip this past weekend.  It was great to get outta the house for a bit and take some pictures!  Still, yes, wearing mask and social distancing front of mind.  The dogs were happy to smell new smells, run in new places, and bark their heads off.  I also just missed getting stuck in traffic with all the protesters and rioting.

I’ve already got both days’ photos loaded up at my website but I’ll share a few photos here as well.

Let’s start with Harbor Liquors in Oceanside with it’s little lighthouse sign addition.  There’s also a nice rocky facade and a curvy roofline:

In National City, this one missing its neon and a cover-up panel (maybe “Homemade” under that?)

Crappy sun early in the day in San Diego — another one goes on my “reshoot” list.

This one is strung from one side of the street to the other in the Kensington neighborhood of San Diego.  It’s actually replica sign from 2010 of the 1953 original.

“The Spirit of Imperial Beach” (yes, in Imperial Beach):

This giant lion statue was being restored and the sun was all wrong when I was there.  Installed at the San Diego Zoo in 2018.  But something was up with the patina.  And maybe they were bored with everything shut-down from COVID.  This statue has a huge concrete substructure which give it that gravity-defying pose:

 

This sign borrows the design from the incredible Jimmy Wong’s Golden Dragon sign in town.  It was the Chinatown Bar & Grill but it’s now the Brooklyn Bar & Grill.  The sign went up around 2018:

Also San Diego — some gravity-defying neon tubing below:

OK — that’s enough for now.  If you’re hungry for more, I have other photos from this little trip over at Instagram and Flickr, and, of course,  my website scattered throughout various sections.

I’m going to sneak off on a little Northern CA trip soon.  But as for my month-long vacation to The South, that’ll just have to wait awhile until the danger has passed.  Hopefully, not until next year!

Hang in there folks — we’ll get through all this.

Debra Jane & the dogs

I got out of town for little shooting down in the L.A. area to take advantage of last week’s three-day holiday weekend.  I’ve caught up with my winter projects and have the big June trip all planned out.  It’s so great to be shooting again!  I’ve already added those photos to my website but I have some “leftover” signs for this blog post.  If you didn’t know, most of things that I post to my blog never get the prestige status of inclusion at my website.  Instead of three separate posts (usually, I do one post per day’s shooting), I’ll just give you one big whammy this time.

Let’s start with this sign in North Hollywood:

 

This one hangs on in L.A. although the market is gone:

 
This Elks Lodge sign is in Arcadia.  The text panel must be porcelain under the paint and, surely, it had neon originally:

 

Here’s a three-fer from L.A.  Be prepared to be chased off if you want to shoot the canopy sign (last photo):

 

Some nice freestanding letters in Manhattan Beach:

 

Also in Manhattan Beach: a super cute plastic sign detail from the “Whale of a Wash” laundromat sign:

 

A two-fer from Commerce:

 

A fun sign in South Gate — surely that atomic thingie on top must have (maybe still does?) flashed in 3-part animation:

 

I love the crusty rust on this one at a liquor store in the Eagle Rock neighborhood of L.A.  The neon tubing sure looks intact:

 

In Highland Park.  One of the best arrows ever, right?  The letters were originally neon and the “Highland Park” bit is a later add-on.  Here’s a vintage photo of when the sign was blue and much prettier:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/roadsidepictures/58823123/

 

I don’t know what this sign in San Bernardino advertised for originally.  It was painted blue for another thrift store back in 2007:

 

This star is installed on top of the Downtown Motel 7 sign in San Bernardino.  The rest of the sign is not worth including, believe me.

 

A (mostly) surviving Color Tile sign in Bellflower.  These guys are getting super rare:

Here’s an example of one that I shot in Yakima, WA in 2008.  By 2012, the business was gone and so were all of the signs:

A small shopping center sign in Azusa that pays tribute to the mountains of the Angeles National Forest in the distance:

 
A neglected arrow sign in Gardena installed on the roof of a tire shop:

 

An empty frame at a liquor store in Compton.  More than likely, each square spelled out “L-I-Q-U-O-R” with the bottom rectangle used for something else (beer? wine? biz name? hours?):

 

Another liquor sign — this one with quadruple stroke neon at Friendly Liquor in Gardena:

 
A really big, mysterious arch over this discount store in South Gate.  In 2007, it was white; then it was yellow and then white again; and red since 2019.  Note how the arch continues down to the ground on the left.

 

I made it out to the desert to shoot some things.  One of the places on my list was this little private collection in Joshua Tree.   The property functions as “Bungalow in the Boulders”, a bed & breakfast.  There’s also a bottle house there.  Here are some of the signs:

 

Two more signs for this post.  This is a new one from 2016 in downtown L.A.  The Piano Lofts building once housed the Story & Clark piano factory:

And here’s the McDonald’s sign from 1959 in Downey getting some TLC by the sign company.  This photo makes you appreciate just how big Speedee really is:

 
I ran out of time and sun last weekend. So, I might head down to finish up next Saturday.  I’ve also got some San Diego Area, Bay Area,  and Vegas Area trips planned.  I want to make sure that Sparkle is running as perfect as can be before the big summer trip in June.  So, lots more photos & posts soon.  In the meantime, you might enjoy my Instagram and Flickr posts.  Of course, the real deal is the website:  my life’s focus for the past 20 years.

Happy trails,

dj & the dogs

Here it is:  the final installment of a gruesome and grueling project.  So much loss in the past couple of years.  I know it’s devastating but  I’m hoping it will be a motivator for everybody to get out on the road while we still have things to see and shoot.  Don’t forget to give a wave & a thumbs-up as you are out there shooting the sign/building/statue or go inside and to tell the business owner how much you love – REALLY REALLY LOVE — their sign/bldg/statue.  Count the ways of how it stands out among all the dreck, how beautiful it is, and how it is huge attention-getter for  potential customers, how important it is to the community as history and art, while a personal marker for locals and an attraction for tourists.  I know, I’m preaching to the choir.  But if you could just gush a lot to whoever is manning the register inside and/or the manager, I KNOW that it really does make a difference.

Enough of my lecture.  Let’s move on to some more bad news, shall we?

Starting in Ohio.  In Lorain, OH, this sign is gone:

This one in Cincinnati, OH — gone:

As for Oregon, this one in Baker City, OR — gone

In Pennsylvania — this revolving M&Z Carpet sign in Harrisburg, PA…

has been updated with backlit plastic letters.  The neon borders also gone:

From the Rexall Signs section: these signs in Idaho Falls, ID are gone:

only the little plastic Rexall panel on the far left remains:

These signs in Chicago, IL are also gone:

 

In Reese, MI — also gone:

In South Carolina, this beauty in Orangeburg is gone:

 

As for South Dakota, this one in Aberdeen is gone:

 

In Tennessee, this one in Nashville is gone:

A bunch of signs in Texas have disappeared — the heaviest hit city was El Paso.
The Gran Mercado sign:


and these:

 

This one…

… has been painted over in this mess:

 

In Houston, TX, this one is gone:

In Austin, TX, this one on Lamar is gone (the identical sign on Guadelupe is still there):

 

This one in San Marcos, TX.…

… has been replaced with this:

 

As for Utah, this one in Blanding has been replaced with a boring plastic box:

 

In Washington, this one in Anacortes is gone:

 

This one in Grandview, WA is gone:

The neon and hand painted mountains on this sign in Sedro-Woolley, WA….

… has been replaced with backlit plastic letters and peaks:

 

The Elephant Car Wash in Tacoma, WA closed and was replaced with another car wash.  This sign …

…was altered/repainted like this:

The surviving Elephant Car Wash signs are at my website here:
http://www.roadarch.com/signs/waseattle2.html#Elephant

 
In Ephrata, WA, this sign’s neon text has been removed and the panels covered up with other panels for another business.  Luckily, they left the dragon alone:

 

In Fife, WA, this sign disappeared due to major roadwork next to it.   When I spoke with the desk clerk, he wasn’t sure if the sign would be reinstalled or if something new would replace it:

 

In West Virginia, this one in Charleston is gone now:

And lastly, from Wisconsin, this one in Lander is, you got it, gone:

 

So, that’s that.  My website is as current as can be with all 72,000 or so external links checked, countless Google Streetview maps checked.  Not a fun task but necessary and never finished.  I predict next winter’s posts will be just as heartbreaking.  But, on the bright side, there are miraculously thousands of other signs still in place, as well as thousands of statues and buildings sure to amaze and make you smile.  Have a look at your favorite sections or use that search box below the yellow bar on the top left at any page to look for cities, biz names, etc.  Favorite “roadarch.com” so you can plan your future adventures.

That’s just what I’m about to do!  I keep huge lists for every state of things that I want to shoot and reshoot.  I’ll be doing a few roadtrips here in California in the next few months to test out my van, camera, laptop, and aging body before embarking on the big 5-week trip to the Southeast in June.  The next posts will be much more cheerful as I document things that still exist and things that you’ll want to add to your own to-shoot lists.

Happy trails and happy 2020!
dj & the dogs

 

I’ve got a whole bunch of news for you since I am happy (relieved!) to report that I’m done with this winter project and I can get on with happier things.  To avoid the world’s longest post, I’m going to split this into two (still fairly huge) posts.  The last section of this mega-website-task was Signs.  I present the most noteworthy news for the states beginning with “K”.  Get a stiff drink — it’s going to be painful.

Let’s start in Louisville, KY where the KDC sign…

… which has been covered up with crappy panels that kinda/sorta (barely) mimic the design underneath:

Moving on to Michigan.  This sign in Grand Rapids, MI is gone now:

 

Also gone — in Richmond, MI:

 

This sign in Saginaw, MI…

was reworked by 2011 but the really nice AMF panel remained:

The sign is now nothing but the two pole stumps.

Some good news from Christmas, MI.  This sign….

… has recently been repainted (or maybe replicated):

 

A bunch of signs in Minnesota are gone now including this one in Austin, MN:

These two (the “turn here” and the one in front of the motel itself) in Deer River, MN — gone:

 

This beauty in Elk River, MN – gone:

This one in Grand Rapids, MN…

was replaced with this thing:

 

This one in Maplewood, MN:
[check out how gorgeous it was at night here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/8394561@N02/5331029635/

has been stripped:

 

This one in Ely, MN — was “picked” by American Pickers.  Their gleeful video at FB made me sick to my stomach and furious.  It’s one thing bargaining with old collectors for their motorcycle parts that have been gathering dust in barns for decades but quite another thing grabbing history and art from communities that have practically nothing to offer tourists and locals.  I bet you they couldn’t ditch the corrugated plastic panel fast enough.

 

The one in Sebeka, MN…

… has been destroyed with backlit plastic letters:

 

Moving on to Missouri.  This one in Cape Girardeau, MO is gone:

 

This one at a plumbing business in Chillicothe, MO — gone:

 

This one in St. Joseph, MO — yep, gone.  Note the wonderful two-phase arrow at the bottom:

 

In St. Louis, MO — gone:

This one in Raytown, MO — gone:

 

This Vickers gas station sign in Independence, MO — gone:

 

Also in Independence, MO, this beautiful sign…

…has been brutally altered.  The neon removed and bottom panels painted over:

 

Moving on to New Mexico.  This one in Carlsbad, NM is gone:

This one in Espanola, NM… gone:

 

This one in Farmington, NM — uh huh, gone:

 

This sign in Hobbs, NM…

is missing a major chunk now:

This one in Ruidoso, NM — gone:

In Raton, NM, this sign is gone (a Travelodge there now):

 

In Albuquerque, NM, the Master Cleaners is gone and so is this guy:

 

Moving on to Nevada.  This sign in Jean, NV...

… has been adapted.  Google doesn’t have a good shot but the letter bulbs are gone – replaced with either neon or LED.  I think the borders are just painted.

 

Reno, NV took a heavy hit this past year and last.  There are dirty sandy lots all over town — soon to be horrible modern towers.  I think some or all of these signs are stashed in developers hands for now.  There has been some talk in news articles of displaying them in town somewhere but it’s pretty vague and might be just to keep people quiet long enough that they’ll forget about their loss.

 

As for Las Vegas, NV, a bit of good news:  The Golden Goose Casino under the Fremont canopy is gone but the statue was saved, restored and is now spinning at Fremont & 10th.  I promise this video will cheer you up:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HporsCpadmw

The baseball player statue from the Vegas Club & Casino was removed at the same time as the goose.  I believe he’s still in storage for now:

 

Only one sign to report from New York.  This sign from Watkins Glen, NY was auctioned off when the restaurant closed.  It’s now in a private collection:

 

Lastly, from the “N”s and my “Norge Ball” section.  This one in Louisville, KY is gone now:

 

The Norge Ball in San Mateo, CA…

… has been replaced with this round but flat thing:

 

So, that’s quite enough.  I’ll be back later tonight with the final post of this series.  I know you can hardly wait.

dj & the dogs

 

 

One notable recent loss in Edgewater, FL — the company was bought out and this sign was removed:

 

On a positive note (for a change), this sign in Dublin, GA…

… was missing the doggie for a few years, and then the sign was entirely restored or repainted recently.  This is the best angle I could get at Google & couldn’t find anything better online:

This sign and the restaurant in Weiser, ID are gone now:

 

I’ve been following all the hard work and restorations of the Relight the Neon organization in Pocatello, ID but somehow I missed this one.  This Independent Order of Odd Fellows sign:

was restored a couple of years ago:

Here comes a bunch of losses in Illinois.  This sign in Anna, IL is gone:

This sign in South Beloit, IL –— gone:

This one in Villa Park, IL…. gone:

This one in Chicago, IL is gone:

Some mixed news from St. Charles, IL:  This sign is still there but the top lettering has been changed — no neon, just paint — for Hawk Ford:

Unfortunately, this sign which was around back, is gone now:

A couple of losses in Indiana.   This sign in Franklin, IN is gone now:

 

and this beauty in Michigan City, IN is also gone:

 

 

Moving on to Kansas.  The Crown Rug signs in Kansas City, KS are gone:

 

 

This sign in Salina, KS…

… has been repainted.  I think the neon is still there but it’s hard to tell.  Too bad that the AAA logo is gone but I’m happy that the readerboard survives:

 

I’m pretty sure I wrote about this poor sign in Henderson, KY last year at this time.  This beauty:

had been transformed into this hideous thing:

Well, it’s been changed up again:

These two signs in Owensboro, KY are gone now:

 

Let’s end this post on a positive note.  This sign in Lake Charles, LA had abandoned for years.  It was standing on a vacant lot when I shot it last in 2018 and really seemed doomed:

But!  The sign was rescued and the “Burger” (which was already a patch panel anyway) was swapped for “Music” and the neon was restored for a new business downtown:

From their website:
https://www.facebook.com/PanoramaMusicHouse/photos/a.2019047378161126/2205893536143175/?type=3&theater

That’s a wrap for a while.  I’m moving on to Massachusetts now (virtually, of course).  I’ll be back in a week or so with more.

Happy trails,

dj & the dogs

I’m proceeding through the webpages, as I do just about everything in life, in alphabetical order.  So, here are the “discoveries” (losses and triumphs) from Arizona to California.

Let’s start with the Valencia Market in Tucson, AZ.  Around last year, the sign was replaced with a neon-less replica.  Luckily, the original sign was saved and is located at the Ignite Sign Art Museum in Tucson.  Here’s the original…

… and what’s there now (not quite the same Art Deco side trim, and, boy, that font is horrid, isn’t it?):

 

Not by state alpha order but these two are from the “Bears” page:  the Happy Bear signs at my website here:
http://www.roadarch.com/signs/bear.html

This sign in Ida, MI is gone now:

as is this one in Yakima, WA:

What follows is about a dozen news items from California.   Finally, some good news!  This sign in Bay Point, CA has been repainted.  Here’s what it looked like for years:

and since about a year ago:

 
This old 7-Eleven sign in Davis, CA has been replaced with a modern sign:

The twin Mayan Hotel signs in El Centro, CA….

… have been painted black and now have plastic letters:

 

Also, in El Centro, CA, not only are these signs gone but the building was also demolished:

 

The Cinderella Motel sign in Hollister, CA…

… has been repainted (and the bulb arrow is missing):

 

The Kieffe & Sons Ford dealership in Rosamond, CA is gone and so is this sign:

 

Frank’s Fish Market in Salinas, CA is gone and so is this sign:

This sign in Victorville, CA…

… no longer has neon and has been covered up with crappy signs for a couple of years now:

The Spur sign in Yuba City, CA is gone now:

 

The Meltdown Comics store in Los Angeles, CA closed in 2018 and this modern sign (stuck onto a vintage panel) is gone now:

 

This sign in Los Angeles, CA …

… was removed in 2018 and reinstalled recently.  Here’s what it looks like now:

The Hotel Marshall signs in Sacramento, CA have been removed during major building rehab.  Fingers crossed that some of the signs return when they are done:

 

Several signs in San Jose, CA have been removed in the past year or so.  Here are just a few:

 

I assume  that the former Dick’s Supermarket sign panels:

are gone for good now:

But one bit of good news in San Jose though (in addition to the restoration of the Dancing Pig sign), is that the Time Deli sign….

is still there (with a new tenant below):

 
That’s enough for one post!  I’ll be back in a few mins. with Florida thru Louisiana.

Take care,

dj & the dogs

 

 

 

 

I’m down to the final section (signs) of my winter updating project.  I’m about halfway through that so it’s time for a few blog posts.  I think I can wrap things up in a week or so.  Then, I’ll take a few local-ish roadtrips and start planning the big summer trip.

MID-CENTURY MODERN BUILDINGS

Here are some of the biggest losses from the past year or two. Got the Kleenex or alcohol handy?  If my blog posts are new to you, the photos are mine while the “afters” are captures from Google Street View.

The former Hyatt Lodge in Port Huron, MI was branded as a Super 7 Motel when I took these photos in 2011.  It later was painted blue and known as the Main Street Lodge & Suites.  By early last year, the building had been demolished.

This round mid-century modern bank in Boulder, CO last housed a Wells Fargo.  It was surrounded by chain link fencing in 2018… and now it’s gone:

 

This former Big Top store in Denver, CO was demolished in 2018.  Luckily, there are still a few surviving buildings:
http://www.roadarch.com/modarch/food3.html

 

This sweet Crest Inn in Reno, NV was remodeled last year:

Here’s the “after” showing what it looks like now as the “Renova Flat” – ugh:

 

I never did solve the mystery of this dome in Cleveland, OH — when it was built and for what.  It was demolished around 2018:

 

This former  National City Bank building in Tiffin, OH was demolished around 2018.  Luckily, it’s twin in Findlay, OH survives:

This St. Peter’s Church in Akron, OH was also demolished around 2018:

These two former Fotomats in Ohio are gone now.  This one in Canton, OH was gone by 2017:

and this one in Hamilton, OH was gone by 2018:

This building in Eastlake, OH was gone by 2018.  It may have housed a moving & storage place originally:

The St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Provo, UT  was demolished about a year ago:

 
The Global Credit Union building in Spokane, WA was demolished about a year ago:

The Midland County Courthouse in Midland, TX was demolished in 2015. Google Street View is behind in many smaller towns & states.  Sometimes, the newest photos are from 2013:

 

This building in Amarillo, TX was demolished in 2018.  I never did figure out what was housed here originally:

The First Pasadena State Bank Building in Pasadena, TX was demolished last year.  It had been vacant since at least 2005:

 

I’ll be back in just a few minutes with the first post about signs.  I promise, it won’t be all bad news!

dj & the dogs

I’ve gotten through another 700 pages or so of my website with this winter project.  Time for a post.  The good news is that most of the thousands of buildings in these two sections are still standing and remain basically unchanged for the past couple of years.  Let’s talk gas stations first.

This station in Fresno, CA is no more.  Vacant for many years, probably spared by its location on the outskirts.  Demolished in the last year or so — now a big dirt lot:

This long neglected former Conoco station in Chicago, IL now has a strange, second floor addition.  Here’s the “before”:

And the ugly, what-the-hell “after” look courtesy of Google Street View from last year.  I guess that would be a living space and make the building more sell-able?  Still surrounded with chain link though and looking rough otherwise:

This former station in Lynn, MA has been vacant and looked increasingly rough for decades.  My photo from 2009:

Surprise!  Last year, it apparently got some scrubbing and paint (grey is better than nothing).  I’m so glad they kept the clock.  In fact, the time is different so maybe they even fixed it?

 

I had long admired this station in Brookline, MA.  Here’s a photo I took in 2004 when there were still pumps:

In 2007, it found new life as a restaurant:

It housed a couple of other restaurants after that until it was demolished last year.  Google SV shows what they are planning for the lot — a stacked-up mess of a building, if you ask me:

This surviving Mobil station in New Ulm, MN was too good to be true to survive much longer I guess.  Here are a couple of photo that I took in 2012:

There are still some Eliot Noyes-designed 1960s Mobil cylinder pumps out there (mostly in North Carolina).  But now there are six left of them.  Last year-ish, the building was completely remodeled (or new building with same footprint) for a real estate office and the pumps & signs were gone.  Here’s the current, boring look:

 

This nice (and super rare) vertical, neon Gulf sign in Whitehouse, NJ survived until 2017:

While the Gulf station (building nothing special, believe me) survives and is still operating, here’s what has been erected in the sign’s place (yeah, dullsville backlit plastic letters):

This gas station in Mumford, NY was built in 1933.  When I first saw it in 2005, it was operating as a CITGO station.  But the building was vacant by 2010 and started going downhill.

Miraculously, earlier this year, the building got cleaned up and now houses a gift shop (yes, the pump & island & pump lights are gone):

This time-capsule, restored Texaco in La Grande, OR with operating pumps…

… was sold around 2018.  The pumps have been removed and I’m sure the memorabilia inside the office and bays are gone.  The signs and stars on the building remain but the lot is used for truck parking.  Sigh.

This former Texaco in Portland, OR had been repurposed a number of times over the years.  A teriyaki restaurant in 2008:

The Hawaiian Time restaurant in 2015:

Then, the building was demolished last year.  Here’s what’s going up on the lot right now:

 

This former Amoco station in Clarksburg, WV still had its porcelain panels until…

around last year when the building was refaced with stone:

 

 

This former station in Canton, OH housed an auto repair and towing business for many years:

Earlier this year, the building go some unfortunate orange paint and began housing Walkie Talkie Espresso & Coffee:

 

***********************

Let’s move on to the EATERIES section.

Another vintage Big Boy statue is gone.  This one was in Coldwater, MI:

Actually, I think the statue was vintage but the burger was a later replacement.  The truly vintage burgers were shorter and more rounded.  That Coldwater location closed around last year.  The good news, there are still lots of these statue left in Michigan (and elsewhere):
http://www.roadarch.com/eateries/bigboy.html

 

This castle-style Burger King in Buena Park, CA is gone now.   Earlier this year, the building was remodeled (castle details gone) and it now houses a Starbucks:

 

This long-vacant, former Orange Julius in Los Angeles, CA…

… began housing the Ktchn Sandwich Spot earlier this year:

The Fosters Freeze sign in Berkeley, CA…

… was repainted around last year:

This former Howard Johnson’s gatehouse building in New Castle, DE was demolished earlier this year:

This former Howard Johnson’s restaurant building in San Luis Obispo, CA…

… began housing the Taco Temple earlier this year:

 
Lastly, a couple of cute, small buildings in Texas are gone now.  Vick’s Famous Hamburgers in Corpus Christi moved to another location last year and this building was demo-ed:

The Dale’s Grand Burger Foto-mat-ish building in Amarillo disappeared last year:

 

There are just two sections left to comb for this winter’s project (Signs & Mid-Century Modern Buildings) but they are the biggest.  So, you won’t be hearing from me for at least a few weeks.   Wishing you all the best for the holidays and 2020!!

Happy trails,
dj & the dogs