No more drama!  Justing shooting all day long.  An unidentified former business in Longview. I love the real door and doorknob.  Different paint job on the other side.

 

Moving on to some Louisiana — here’s a bunch from Shreveport.  These two signs are at the long-closed Southgate Bowling Lanes:

 

Right next door — the Sunset Village shopping center:

 

The only thing that remains of the Pin Stripe Lounge is this sign:

 

The blown out plastic panel previously had a lion holding a cocktail:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/stevensnodgrass/5197432420/

 

At the OK Cleaners:

 

This was George’s Grill from 1960 until last year when George passed away and the restaurant closed.  This sign appears to be from the 1950s.  I don’t know what it was called then:

 

 

This sign originally advertised for Brocato’s restaurant.  It was damaged in a tornado and then has been adapted at least three times after that.  Here’s what the sign looked like originally:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/repowers/3123339102/

 

 

The Carousel Lounge is now known as the Round Bar.  I’m told that the bar inside the round building with the folded plate roof still revolves.

I’m betting that the neon piece flashed originally:

This carousel sign still remains on top of the building.  It, too, must have revolved.

 

 

Next door is this sign atop a plastic box sign for an Indian restaurant.

 

 

Downtown Shreveport.  I’m always relieved to see this one still there:

 

 

Another downtown sign.  A reminder that, someday, I need to write an article about parking garage signs:

 

 

I stopped in at Shreveport Neon to check on the Roto-Spheres in storage.  One of them was installed outside and lit until just a few years ago.  Now both are idle and disassembled.  Nobody at the shop does neon anymore.  They’ve been thinking of putting LED tubes on the one Roto-Sphere but I begged them not to.  I also begged, as I have been for years, for them to donate one of the signs to the American Sign Museum.  They will talk to the owner again.  But I haven’t heard anything since then so… I will continue to hound them.  While I was there I spotted this ripple tin panel old beauty.  It’s supposedly going to be displayed in town somewhere.  They were “working on it” for the owner which I’m assuming has something to do with those fat black wires on the left:

 

 

Moving on to Bossier City, LA.  A nice porcelain enamel sign.  It doesn’t look like it ever had neon.

 

Then, on briefly to Arkansas — on top of the sign of Fricks Butane in Texarkana — the holes held neon tubing originally:

 

 

Let’s close with these two signs at the Twilight Motel in Texarkana, AR:

Maybe chasing bulbs?

 

 

More to come very soon!  I’m hoping to wrap up the posts from this trip tomorrow.

Happy Trails,
dj & the dogs

Two issues with Sparkle today.  An unexpected blow out in the middle of nowhere, south of Henderson.  Completely unexpected since I’m always looking at my tires:  plenty of tread, plenty of air.  Anyhow, I only lost a couple hours (an hour for the tow; an hour to install a new tire at a Walmart).

Then, later in the day, it was completely my fault.  I was making an impulsive quick cut-through a parking lot to make a U-turn.  I got hung up on a hidden piece of concrete in the grass.  Couldn’t go forward or backward.  So much for all-wheel drive!  Over an hour til the tow truck would come to lift up my front end so I could back out of the jam and get on my way.  Stupid me.

But!  Despite these setbacks, it was one of the most glorious sunny days with clouds in the background where they belong and NOT in front of the sun.  Let’s get going then!

I was happy to see that this sign in Center, TX was still there AND had been repainted.  Although the rectangular sign stuck on top is new:

 

A cafe sign in Carthage but no cafe in sight:

 

In Jacksonville.  A weird sheen to the porcelain enamel that I’m told only requires buffing out and it’s as pretty as new:

 

Moving on to Tyler where there are lots of signs and interesting buildings to shoot.  Let’s focus the rest of this post on some of those.  I love the combination and bulbs on this one:

 

Don’t overlook the holes on the sign pole:

 

This crown detail tops an otherwise unremarkable plastic sign for D’s Coffee Shop:

 

Was that arrow added later?  What happened to the pointy end?  Or maybe there was something else in that square-ish gap originally?

 

I was in Tyler a couple of times before but FINALLY this year in the sun!  Interesting plugs in the tubing holes:

 

This one is lit in green and red at night! (not that I got to see/shoot that since I was had no headlights at this point in the trip):

 

A great rooftop sign at Lew’s Welding Service:

 

At the long closed Gilbert’s El Charro Cafe:

 

Let’s close this post with one photo from Kilgore which is a big oil industry town.  Here’s a neon clad metal oil derrick sign at Woodlawn Fabrication:

 

Still more posts to come from this 28-day trip.  I should be able to catch up completely by the weekend.  If you’re not following along at my Flickr stream, you’re missing a LOT of pretty photos which I’m uploading simultaneously with these:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/agilitynut/
Happy Trails,
dj & the dogs

Today, I finished up some Dallas/Fort Worth and then it was south and east of there.  In the morning, I was noticing a little thunk that I thought I should check out.  I didn’t want to waste a lot of time.  I found a little Pep Boys, the smallest I’d ever seen, in Dallas and got serviced right away.  The mechanic told me that my sway bar was broken and that the bushings were rubbing (the sound that I was hearing).  The part was no longer available and would take at least three or four days to get. I was told that I would be “fine” for the rest of my trip.  Well, okay…  I paid the $22 for diagnosing the issue and then drove all day like a maniac.  I googled that night about sway bars and found it’s supposed to be dangerous and make steering difficult (at a minimum).  Oh, okay… with six days to go, I crossed my fingers and was extra alert.  I didn’t notice any difference in handling but I was mildly terrified that a wheel would just fly off or and axle would give (though the Dallas mechanic said it wouldn’t).  When I got home, my mechanic found a small crack.  He would replace the sway bar and getting the part would be no problem.

So, here’s the flip side of the final photo in Dallas that I posted yesterday.  I assume that this sign revolved so that you could read both sides.

 

More Dallas:

 

Also in Dallas and located under a tree.  This is the best light you can get:

 

On to Corsicana:

 

The Corsicana Super Bowl is still open but now known as the Corsicana Park Lanes:

 

In Athens, TX:

 

In Palestine, TX.  Whatever this was originally is hidden under the “L&L” shoe store panel:

 

This orphan sign is in Crockett.  I couldn’t find any info about what type of business was here originally:

 

In Lufkin, TX:

 

Let’s closed with two signs from Nacogdoches.  This one was originally on the front of the building.  The business closed and an insurance company moved in.  This sign was saved and moved to the side of the building:

 

This one stands in front of the Nacogdoches Antiques Market which was previously BJ Farms, a produce market:

 

Seven more days and seven more posts to go.

Happy trails,
dj & the dogs

A gloriously sunny day but we didn’t get out of Pep Boys until around 1pm.  I paid the $418.64 bill and fired up Sparkle and picked up shooting.  I noticed about an hour later that my headlights (daytime running lights) were not working.  I called the Pep Boys that worked on my car but they were not interested in working on that.  They said it was related to the wiring harness and that I really needed a new one.  Since the dealer no longer sells them (I have a 2003), it would be about $4,000 to fabricate one and would take at least 3 or 4 days to make & get it.  OK, well.  So, since I wouldn’t have headlights for the rest of the trip, there would be no night driving or lit neon photos.  When I got home, my mechanic found out the guy at Pep Boys had put the fuse in the wrong place and that’s why I didn’t have headlights and he doesn’t think I need a new wiring harness at this point.  So…..  I’m glad I didn’t sit around and spent $4,000 for nuthin!

Moving on then to the pretty pictures.  A couple from Fort Worth:

 

The weird stuff around the edges of the panel and “Century” letters is LED rope (cheap neon “alternative”).  Probably looks horrid at night or might even be broken by now:

 

The “Town West” shopping center letters might have been neon originally.

 

Yates Brothers Motor Company Used Cars — Fort Worth.  This sign probably revolved (different text on the back/front panels):

 

A-AAA Television Services in Fort Worth:

The sign’s doggie detail:

 

My custom interior body work consisting of a Starbucks dome lid and duct tape.  Ugly as hell but it keeps Dilly from decapitating herself when stepping on the power window buttons.  I can slide my fingers under the dome to raise/lower but she can’t press down.  One of my biggest fears was that I’d be across the street taking a photo and come back to an asphyxiated dog.  Problem solved!  Although on this trip, I’ve rarely needed to lower the windows since we’re running the A/C the whole time.

 

Even gray signs look great in sun!  Howell’s Motel in Fort Worth:

 

In Haltom City.  More than likely, the top panel of the panel which is covered up now had a different name and neon:

 

In Fort Worth:

 

In Grand Prairie.  Don’t overlook the cute “RCA Color TV” sign:

 

Last one for this post — Stop N Save Liquor.  I’ll post the other side of this one in the next post.  I assume those spikes had balls or something:

 

Loads of even prettier photos over at Flickr from today & the rest of the trip here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/agilitynut/

Eight more days & posts to go.

Take care,
dj & the dogs

 

 

 

The day started out super cloudy and I had only taking about a dozen disappointing photos.  I turned off the engine (something I rarely do) to wait it out.  Half hour later, turned the key.  Nothing.  Had to get towed to a Pep Boys.  Turned out that Pep Boys didn’t “do electrical”.  So, I had to get towed a second time to another location.  It took a couple hours to get to me and then another couple hours to diagnose the problem.  I didn’t think it would be the battery (only a month old) or the starter (less than a year old).  Sure enough, it turned out to be a wire that’s part of the wiring harness.  After studying the electrical diagram, the mechanic did some bypass thing and replaced the “pigtail”, which either was or was in addition to a “crank position sensor”.  It was a big job and meant he would have to finish in the morning.

Here’s our typical two-chair setup at Pep Boys (yes, we’ve been to many on the road).  Nik at the back of one chair with me perched on the edge in front of him with my laptop.  The rest of the family shares the other chair.

On to a better day tomorrow,

dj & the dogs

Another challenging cloudy day.  Did what I could, waited when it made sense, otherwise shot & moved on.  Most of the stops weren’t all that remote from I-20.  So, I’ll revisit them again one day.

Let’s start in Sweetwater with these two signs.  According to an on-line source, the “V” sign was originally installed at the Village Shopping Center. The sign was later moved to this shopping center.  Maybe there was neon originally? No idea.

 

 

Clouds AND the wrong time of day.  Oh well — an incredible plastic Masonic sign, nonetheless:

 
Moving on to Abilene:

What brought me to this carpet store was this guy:  one of, I believe, only two remaining Mohawk Carpet Indian signs.  This one’s been repainted and missing the detail but I’m still happy to see he’s still there.  The other one is in Denver — a non-working mechanical sign — at my website here:
http://www.roadarch.com/sca/mechanical.html#Westcraft

 

 
In Dublin at the Dublin Bottling Works.  Note the condensation on the bottle.  The heat was relentless on this trip.  I drank the entire thing in about 60 seconds:

 
From Breckenridge.  Oh, for some sun!

 
From Granbury:

 

 

The Brazos Motel in Granbury was demolished when the Mesquite Pit was built.  The sign was saved and is now displayed inside the restaurant:

 
Last photo for this post — at Last Stop Liquor in Azle:

 

On to Fort Worth tomorrow!

dj & the dogs

The clouds really messed with me today.  But I won’t show you those disappointing photos.  Let’s start in Coleman before the day went to hell.  This one is in Coleman at Owl Drugs:

 

I don’t know what this pretty blade sign advertised for originally.  Must have been a nice one.  The plugged tubing holes on the lower right show that it had bull nose tubes:

 

I don’t usually shoot painted ghost signs but this one was pretty with all the overlapping text:

 

We’re still in Coleman.  This one must have been gorgeous with neon:

The jewelry shop is closed but the gorgeous vitrolite (glass) tiles are still there:

and the interior is delightful:

 

That immediately recognizable sign frame indicated that this was originally a Mr. Burger:

 

Just off the main square in Coleman, this public art project that was done sometime after 2013.  The cow paintings were paid for by local ranchers but I can’t find any more details than that:

 

Moving on to San Angelo at Stango’s Coffee Shop.   Oh how I wish I’d gone inside!  Their website shows they have other neon goodies inside:
https://www.stangoscoffeeshop.com/

Google Street View reveals that this sign was not here in 2007 but here by 2012 when Stango’s was there.  Maybe this “Coffee Shop” panel was added by them — note the rectangular cut-out in the panel and the oddly raised letter “C”.  It’s odd how the letters seem to be set into recessed indentations (does that make sense?) in the sign panel.

 

Another shot from San Angelo just down the street.  This are new retro signs.  The restaurant hasn’t been here that long.  Their website also shows they have some old signs inside:

 

These interesting sputnik features are installed at Johnson Roofing in Robinson.  This one is on top of tractor trailer painted as a billboard.  I love the multi-colored roofing options:

 

And this one is on top of the office’s steeple.  I’ve got lots of sputniks at my website but I don’t think any are a match for these.  Check them out here:
http://www.roadarch.com/sca/roto2.html#Montana

 

Moving on to Waco.  Breakfast of champions.  Something to munch on while waiting on those evil clouds to part.  Diet Coke cancels out the calories.

I believe this Jack ‘N Jill location is the only one left with a neon sign (or maybe it was the only one built).  Its rooftop location makes it just about impossible to shoot from either side.

 

Also in Waco — gray, gray, go away:

 

Last one — from Brownwood:

 

That’s it for Day 17.  11 more days and 11 more posts to come.  Hopefully, I can catch up with all of those next weekend and get to work on the website.

Happy trails,
dj & the dogs

I was so excited to share those pretty photos with you yesterday that I forgot to mention a morning event.  Leaving the tiny town of Giddings, I guess I hit the accelerator too quickly.  A very nice officer gave me a ticket for 12 miles over the speed limit that cost me $255.10.  I was extra careful after that and either stayed close to the limit or in the middle of the pack.

The day started off sunny and promising enough but then the clouds came.  The full-sky type that were too dense to wait out.  Most of the full sun happened when I was driving the distances between stops.  I just had to shoot what I could and move on.  I’ll be back again one day!

A modern sign in Austin at a Catfish Parlour on Research Drive:

 

From blue skies to grey… still in Austin not even a half hour later.  A detail from the Quality Seafood sign:

 

Is this a Texas thing?  Two tire rim man statues the same day.  This one at Inman’s Ranch House Bar-B-Q in Marble Falls:

and this one in San Saba at J.C. Smith Co.:

 

In, you guessed it, Lllano — would be so much prettier if there had been sun:

 

A couple from Killeen, TX:

 

And a couple of signs from Temple, TX:

 

This sign is inside the Kincl Building in Taylor with a bunch of other antiques & such.  I poked around at Flickr & Google and couldn’t come up with a location for this one.  Paris, TX would seem appropriate but didn’t seen anything.  Apparently, there was a panel covering up Paris for awhile so that might be why nothing comes up. Those tubing holes seem huge to me.

 

 

Let’s close up with a “stumble” (something that wasn’t on my list that brought me much delight):  one of those now-rare spinning disc signs.  This one wasn’t spinning but that’s okay.  It’s at the HRH Garage in Thorndale, TX.

 

Here’s a video of what these signs look like where they’re working.  I took this on even gray-er day in New Jersey.  This sign is gone now:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/agilitynut/5541804390/

 

More coming up soon,
dj & the dogs

This post is going to be a biggie!  A few stops and then we are on to Austin.

This one is at Bastrop’s Fieldhouse BBQ in Bastrop:

Another one in Bastrop:

 

Moving on to San Marcos which is overrun with modern, retro style neon signs.  I’m assuming these were done by Austin artists, the likes of Todd Sanders, Evan Voyles, or their proteges.

Yup, modern:

Uh-huh, modern:

 

Moving on then to Austin.  Many of you will recognize this guy that was installed above the storefront of Uncommon Objects on South Congress.  The store moved to another location and he’s now inside:

 

The Gibson Guitars showroom has lots of vintage neon signs.  Unfortunately, it’s only open by appointment and I rarely have time to make those kinds of arrangements.  I got what I could from the window:

 

A nice modern sign at the Catfish Parlor on East Ben White Blvd.:

 

In the backyard at Todd Sanders’ Roadhouse Relics.  Some of you may remember a modern Chicken Shack sign posted earlier in this trip.  Well, this is one of the original signs.

 

Sweet!

 

At the Maudie’s Tex-Mex on South Lamar — modern with apparently an animated arm:

 

The Sahara Motel sign that was originally in Abilene, TX now resides at the Sahara Lounge.  There must be another name under that tacked on Sahara panel.  In Abilene:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/wyatt523/5023543728/

 

Modern and wonderful sign.  I love grackles — they are noisy and arrogant — making them the perfect bar mascot.  Note the texture on the panel:

 

At “El Sol y La Luna” (closed restaurant).  I know this modern sign was created by Todd Sanders:

 

I don’t know who did this modern sign but ain’t it great?  The neon goes from the spool on the left to the needle on the far right.  And they also have a neon pole sign:

 

Last one for this batch.  I assume this is modern but maybe it could be 1960s-1990s:

 

I just uploaded lots of fantastic photos from today over at Flickr as well:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/agilitynut/

More later today,
dj & the dogs

Most of the day was spent at the shop in Conroe.  When the mechanic got a closer look, he realized it wasn’t the exhaust manifold at all that was making the noise.  It was the doughnut (!) gaskets and tie rods.  A big wait to get the parts… and get them installed.. and then paid the $567 bill.   Ouch.  Everything seemed quiet enough (though I commented that I thought it was still a little louder than normal). I got about an hour away in Navasota and then the exhaust was louder than ever.  I was P-I-S-S-E-D!  Drove back to the garage and it was already late afternoon.  I figured I’d be in Conroe again for the night.  But it was fairly simple: a missing bolt and gasket in a different location (near the muffler).  No charge to replace those and I was finally on my way.  No more exhaust noise problems after that.

So, this will be another short post — it’s a miracle I got any shots at all!  And the sun and clouds were gorgeous all day — killing me! From Navasota:

 

From Bryan:

From Brenham:

Another from Brenham but partly shaded by this time.  Oh well.  Another time, Winkelmann Studio:

Also in Brenham:

 

A former Red & White Super Market sign (the Super Market panels are missing) in Fayetteville.   The porcelain panel letters are embossed.  This sign was not here in 2008 but was in place by 2009:

 

Lots more tomorrow,

dj & the dogs