- Messages
- 15,259
- Location
- Arlington, Virginia
Downtown Richmond, VA
Good point about the lead, it can have a very enduring legacy, just think about what is going on in Flint Michigan right now.
This sign in Belfast, Maine is one I grew up with. The building was, in the years of my childhood, a clothing/Army-Navy store called "Kilroy's," and the Coca-Cola sign was painted over by a bright yellow, red, and black sign advertising the Dubble-Ware brand of work clothing sold at the store. When I was young, only the COC of the Coke sign, and the part to its left which read "Delicious and Refreshing" were visible. But the Dubble-Ware sign abraded and faded steadily over the years, and is now almost entirely gone.
Coke signs in general seem to be the most durable of late 19th/early 20th century wall signs -- and for good reason. They used paint with a very high lead content, which soaked into the brickwork and was highly resistant to weathering. That's also why they tend to be left alone -- they require hazardous-waste protocols to sandblast off.
This sign in Belfast, Maine is one I grew up with. The building was, in the years of my childhood, a clothing/Army-Navy store called "Kilroy's," and the Coca-Cola sign was painted over by a bright yellow, red, and black sign advertising the Dubble-Ware brand of work clothing sold at the store. When I was young, only the COC of the Coke sign, and the part to its left which read "Delicious and Refreshing" were visible. But the Dubble-Ware sign abraded and faded steadily over the years, and is now almost entirely gone.
Coke signs in general seem to be the most durable of late 19th/early 20th century wall signs -- and for good reason. They used paint with a very high lead content, which soaked into the brickwork and was highly resistant to weathering. That's also why they tend to be left alone -- they require hazardous-waste protocols to sandblast off.