Finally! The clouds were working for me and not against me.

Surely, this sign was inspired by 7-Eleven signs:

 
The new owner was installing and getting ready to paint this Coca-Cola polar bear in front of his soon-to-open take-out daiquiri place.  He said the bear appeared in a Super Bowl commercial:

Back to the signs:

A detail from a Taqueria Arandas sign:

And an Arandas Bakery sign:

 

I’m assuming those spikes had ballies or something interesting originally:

I’m so glad that all those sign-makers used navy porcelain instead of black.  You want the type to show up well, so, they could just as well have used black:

This sign advertised for Wald Transfer & Storage:

A very pretty and unusual Masonic sign:

The building has a nice scalloped canopy, too:

And lastly, a detail from a Hungry Farmer Bar-B-Q sign:

That’s it for today!  More coming soon.
Happy 4th of July from dj & the dogs

I won’t complain about the clouds but…. it got better as the day went on.  Here’s a bunch of signs from Beaumont:

 

This one looked worse a few years back.  The sunny side was the “wrong” side (Texas is backwards):

 

More Beaumont:

 

From Port Arthur, TX:

 

From Orange, TX:

Moving on to Louisiana.  This one in Lake Charles is one of the modern modern Hokus signs:

 

From Crowley, LA:

 

From Lafayette, LA:

Yes, the bread revolves!  I took a little video for ya (sorry about the noise in the background):

 

OK — while I’m at it, I’ll throw in another video of the Alesi’s Pizza sign in Lafayette:

 

A double delight:  a former Taco Bell in Lafayette repurposed as a donut shop WITH a giant donut:

The donut is very similar to the ones at Mrs. Chapman’s Angel Food Do-Nuts in California — at my website here:
http://www.roadarch.com/sca/donuts.html#Angel

More posts comin’,
dj & the dogs

Another cloudy morning.  My approach was to wait a little and shoot what I could, then move on even if it means lots of reshooting in the future.  Better to grab and go rather than waste time which would be valuable later in the trip (more on my list than was do-able in a month).  I gave the 5-ish stops planned for Seguin about 45 mins. before I gave up and left.  Here’s the grey background and flat colors.  But, you never know, this one might be gone by the next time I get there:

 

As I was stalling in little old Seguin, I got a seat belt ticket.  It was 7:30am and I guess the cop had nothing better to do.  I rarely wear my seat belt (I know, I know…) unless I’m really cooking on the interstates.  NYC cops got me about a half dozen times when I lived there.  Seguin got me for $154, dammit.  I cheered myself up later with this:

A couple of signs from Victoria, TX which would look far better in sun.  At Devereux Gardens:

and Rogers Pharmacy:

 

While in Victoria, I stopped the The Corral to see if there was anything left of this sign which was destroyed in Hurricane Harvey last year.  This sign featured animated flaming arrows on a wire across the parking lot which erupted into a fireball on the roof.  One of my photos from 2011:

But all that gone now.  The photos of the sign that I saw after the hurricane showed the Indian panels doubled over and apparently unsalvageable.  The text panel was still there on this trip.  I went inside (it’s now Limon’s BBQ) and asked if there were any pieces of the Indian left.  I was told that he’s being “repaired”.  I wanna believe but…. we shall see.

The KULP radio station in El Campo:

 

Since I’ve concluded that most of my blog followers only want to see signs, I rarely include buildings even though I probably shoot just as many or more buildings for my website as signs.  I’ll throw a few buildings in here that might appeal to some folks.  This ship is now permanently grounded and used as a bait shop (“Hookers Bait Shop,” to be specific) in Freeport, TX.   Gotta love the flags and bright paint job:

The “Kettle House” in Galveston was built from steel panels in the early 1990s and had been vacant for many years.  In fact, it’s not clear if it ever was occupied.  Here’s a photo I took in 2011:

I was happy to see on this trip that it’s being cared for.  Looks like new windows, supports, and rust prevention.  Google Street View from 2016 showed it looking like the first photo above.  So, these changes must be recent.  There are a bunch of these heavy wooden posts in front of the building as well.  I’m hoping that when the work is done, this place will still be visible from the highway.

 

Last one, also from Galveston.  This sign was built in 2014 in the style of the 1940 sign which was originally installed on this former Sears building (it read “SEARS” on top and “ROEBUCK and CO.” below).
https://www.chron.com/life/health/article/Galveston-Historical-Foundation-s-1940-Sears-9731217.php#photo-11319623

More posts coming,
dj & the dogs

This day was a little challenging with clouds.  Sometimes, the clouds completely blocked the sun and I’d have to stand there are wait for the big ones to get outta the way.  Even when they would move, there would often be a thin layer of clouds making the colors of my subjects pretty flat.  Ah well.  Someday, another San Antonio trip and, with some luck, it will be a sunnier day.

On with the San Antonio signs.  This Masonic sign is an example of the less than ideal lighting conditions:

There was a 10-minute wait for this one:

Flat navy/black — I don’t know what creased this sign — truck, falling tree?

This sign has had some hard times.  With the neon removed, someone made an attempt to outline the letters with cheap LED rope:

I think the background behind the “Carnation” letters would have been red originally:

I don’t know how original the paint job or lettering is.  There are patched tubing holes especially around “ST.” which would indicate this sign read something else previously.

Two from Tucker’s:

This sign might be vintage — or in the style of.  The spiral parking garage it’s attached to is definitely mid-century:

The “Labor and Professional Center” panel must have revolved originally:

All that’s left of this place is the facade (note trees behind the window) and this sweet old sign.  The letters are all separate pieces:

 

This sign company has been around since 1925:

Although the text panel has been reworked, I’m so glad they kept the golf ball & tee:

More soon,
dj & the dogs

I can’t think of any other P66 vaccum form signs left in the wild.  This one’s in Devine, TX:

From Hondo, TX:

In Fredericksburg, TX (yes, that’s Sparkle hiding in the background):

From San Antonio — previously Brooks May Music Co. (now Alamo Music Center):

Okay, one more doggie photo.  My front seat passengers at the moment: Griz & Dill at a stoplight.  Yes, my dogs travel “loose” (not in crates).  Sure, they could go thru the windshield if there’s a huge collision.  But the risk/reward to me weighs in favor of letting them watch the world go by, bark at stuff, lay in the sun, hang in my lap, and just plain enjoy travelin’ to the max.

More San Antonio:

One more — from Castroville — running out of daylight (the “golden hour” that some people love but I hate):

Lots more tomorrow,
dj & the dogs

This one is from Harlingen.  I was hoping it was lit at night but, alas, only the bottom part was working (and the trim around the roof):

From Alice, TX — surely, neon originally, and, most likely, a different biz name:

Another one from little Alice, TX:

And a couple signs from Corpus Christi.  This one is modern, based on an earlier vintage sign which was located elsewhere:

Simple and wonderful:

Time to introduce or revisit my pack (depending on how familiar you are with my blog posts).  I never go anywhere without my pack of four dogs.  Here they are with a newfound, bronze friend in Brownsville.  The St. Joseph Academy is home to the “Fighting Bloodhounds.”  Left to right:  Dilly, Griz (Griswold), Grem (Gremlin) & Nik (Sputnik).  Nik is blind so not especially good at looking at the camera:

One of my traditional photo-op sites in Los Fresnos, TX.  The last time we were here, it was about 40 degrees and the wind was crazy strong.  The dogs were much more willing to stay there this time (even though it was in the 90s):

The girls:

The boys:

The most important rule in our lives:  you can’t jump out of the van until mama says the magic word (“OK”).  Here they are at Padre Island waiting for their release:

And they’re off!

I’m always packing cheese, meat & kibble which keeps the dogs’ ears perked for my “here!” but there’s nothing like looking for dead fish and edible trash that might be available as well:

Grizzie prefers to roll on dead, stinky things rather than eat them:

Dill is on to something:

Score!  Dead fish carcass.  Num num!

 

Back to the signs in the next post — coming up in just a bit,

dj & the dogs

 

A couple of fading signs from Del Rio, TX:

 

Moving on to Laredo, TX:

 

A couple of signs from Mission, TX — the Palm Lounge:

and this one, now missing its neon:

And, lastly, one of maybe hundreds of plastic Shipley Donuts signs out there.  This one is one of the far fewer vintage variety — in McAllen:

Lots more posts coming up.  Tomorrow is the 4th of July and I’ll be hard at work most of the holiday posting more goodies to this blog and Flickr.

dj & the dogs
http://www.RoadsideArchitecture.com

Some remote stops:  lots of sun and driving in Western & Southwestern Texas.  Let’s start with this one from Dimmit, TX:

A couple of retro (modern) signs from Lubbock, TX.  The same designs were used for Teddy Jack’s Armadillo Grill in Amarillo, TX:

 

These drive-ins just blocks apart in little Big Spring, TX must have been related.  Either the same names originally or, at a minimum, the same sign shop:

Probably more neon originally or at least fancier text panels — in Odessa, TX:

What’s left of the Holcomb Storage sign in Odessa:

 

Let’s close with a couple of crusty gems from Pecos, TX:

Don’t forget about all the other photos from this trip piling up at my Flickr account:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/agilitynut/

Lots more blog posts to come,
dj & the dogs

Today was AC day.  So, I lost a half day hanging out at a Pep Boys in El Paso.  I’ll tell you one thing, an 8AM appointment made two days earlier doesn’t make a difference.  They will pull your vehicle into the bay and then proceed working on whatever other cars are ahead of you.  The waiting on a sunny day was painful.  If I hadn’t been the pushy New Yorker that I am, I’m sure it would have taken a couple hours longer.  I plunked the $333 for a new AC valve kit & vacuum hose on my credit card and I was on my way.  I was warned that I might have more trouble with the AC later since there was no way that the amount of freon missing could have leaked out of those parts.  So, I waited for the next shoe to drop but the AC worked fine the rest of the trip.  Fine, for a Chevy Astro van, that is.  Which means, during intense big city traffic, it’s about 80 and the engine sounds like it’s gonna stall.  And freeway driving, esp. if there’s a hill involved, you have to let up on the gas pedal to let the cool air flood in.

So, this will be a short post since shooting was limited.  Let’s start with some El Paso shots:

I hope that a new tenant is never found as I’m sure that the signs and probably the bulb lines, maybe even the canopy, will be ditched:

 

Bell Gas stations are all or mostly gone but there are still some of these signs around.  This one adapted, but not so clearly, for a car repair place or used car lot (can’t remember which):

 

This sign is tucked away behind the Robin Hood (mobile home) Park.  I’m sure there was more to the text on the panels but those little sign-topper thingies are wonderful:

Moving on to Alamogordo, NM where the Satellite Inn sign which I shot in 2012:

is now resting in the unused pool.  When the motel became a Rodeway Inn about a year go, the owner moved it there.  If things don’t work out with Rodeway, they might put the sign back.  Or move it somewhere else on the property.  Or…. who knows…

From the little town of Carrizozo, NM, this sign hangs over an antiques store.  I’m not sure if it’s vintage or new but the script letters are wonderful:

Last one for this post, another pretty sign from Carrizozo:

Lots more to come…
dj & the dogs

So, I got home yesterday morning and all is well.  The plant sitter took good care of my “other” babies and the post office actually held my mail for the first time.  The very last post of this series of daily posts will contain all the stats (money spent, miles driven, etc.).  But, as a preview, I shot just shy of 3,000 photos on this 28-day trip and drove more than 12,000 miles.  Most of the time was spent in Texas but there was a little Louisiana and Oklahoma, too.

Sparkle hung in there despite being pushed 12 hours a day with most days over 100 degrees and humid as hell.  The AC was mandatory from 8am til the sun went down and shooting stopped. I had a few mechanical problems which I’ll detail as these posts go.  I probably lost about two days worth of shooting for that.  The dogs had a great time and got to run and explore frequently.  Mostly in the mornings before things heated up.  Then, a few times each day in the frequent and ample undeveloped lots and golf course-quality lawns at various churches and schoolyards throughout the day.  I survived mostly on iced coffee, Diet Coke, nuts, cheese, cookies, and ice cream.  Whatever it takes, right!?

I had to tough out this day without the AC (and it was HOT) since the last time that it was worked on was last summer at a Pep Boys.  Hoping for a warranty situation if the same parts/labor were needed. No PB in southern NM so I had an 8am appointment at one of the El Paso locations on Monday.

On with the photos — here’s one from Tucson.  This B-R is long gone but this sign is still standing for now.  Very few of these left:

A break from the heat to meet up with Jude Cook and see what he’s putting together for his Ignite Sign Art Museum which will be opening in Tucson in October.  He’s storing the Moe Allen “Happy Bear” sign from Phoenix at his shop for now:

 

Also in storage at Jude’s sign shop (Cook & Company Signmakers) is the atom (?) feature from the top of the long-closed Mr. Quick Hamburgers sign in Tucson.  The building was adapted for a Domino’s.  My photo of the sign in 2012:

And the sign in storage:

For vintage photos of the sign and building, here’s this:
http://web.archive.org/web/20120930012824/http://captainerniesshowboat.com/mrquick.html

The 15 cents part of the Mr. Quick sign was restored (fast, flashing bulbs) and is now inside the soon-to-open museum:

Jude has made and is selling miniatures of some famous, vintage Tucson signs.  Here are just a few:

Here is part of the clock display:

Some other signs that will be installed soon.  My memory is fried at this point but I think he said this one was originally in Salt Lake City:

Some local signs that will be displayed inside:

Moving on now… from Bowie, AZ — love the length of the first and last letters of “Skeet’s Tavern”:

Moving on to New Mexico — Lordsburg, to be specific.  This sign originally advertised for Oscar’s Liquors — my photo from 2012:

Repurposed & neon removed recently:

 
Let’s close with a now rare, mass-produced classic motel add-on sign at the Balboa Motel in Deming, NM:

LOTS more to come!  Don’t forget the other sampling of photos from each day over at Flickr:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/agilitynut/

dj & the dogs