Vintage roadside

[dh66]

We'll all get that way one day Harv.

Cool sign and pics Bob.

Great looking theater Zombie. There's one left down here with a box office like that. I can remember when that feature was pretty standard on all of them. Now days, other than the one old, restored one, they're all huge multiplexes with a half dozen or more ticket windows. A lot of the newer ones don't even have those, you just buy the tickets in the same line as the drinks and popcorn. There's one that serves beer now, though, so I guess the modern way isn't all bad.

 

[Fading Fast]

Alex, the Wardman is a cool one for sure. Great pics.

Bob, great sign. You are right, looks like no structure ever existed. Strange.

I thought the same thing - seems odd that there wasn't a structure near it. Was it advertising a Texaco up the road or something and that part of the sign or second sign is gone?

 

[LizzieMaine]

When Texaco converted from that model of sign -- known internally as "the banjo sign" -- in the late sixties, in favor of the hexagon on a pole, many of the old signs and poles were sold off as surplus. The buyer would paint over the Texaco logo with their own wording, and stick the signs in front of whatever business they happened to need a sign for. You still see them in small towns in front of small-engine repair shops, used car lots, scrapyards, or even farm stands, which was likely the case here. Since the sign panel was porcelain enamel, paint did not adhere well to it, and after a few years the Texaco logo would tend to reassert itself.

If you keep your eyes open, it's surprising how much old repurposed signage you'll see still being used in small towns and rural areas. When I was growing up there was a Mobil station at the end of my street that went out of business around 1970 -- but the sign pole, a 1930s Socony model, is still standing on the corner and has been used to display dozens of different signs for everything from a welding shop to a plumbing company to a watch-repair place to the town's chamber of commerce. Currently there's nothing hanging on the pole, and I don't think anybody's bothered to paint it since the Flying Red Horse went away, but it's still standing there, and I'm probably one of the few people who actually remembers what it originally was.

 

[Fading Fast]

And another mystery solved thanks to Lizzie-pedia.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I was very sad the day they took our banjo sign away.

 

[2jakes]

Although no longer a gasoline station, this neon pegasus still lights the way in the evenings.

On my way to work is another station with beautiful tiles.

Slowly fading away. Sad indeed !

 

[Stanley Doble]

There is a mini mall in my town with a free standing sign 30 feet high out front that says "Radiator Service". It hasn't been a radiator shop in 30 years. When they turned it into 4 or 5 small shops they put up a new sign with replaceable sign boards and painted over the old one. Now the paint has worn off.

The sign itself may be a relic of when it was a gas station 50 years ago and more.

 

[Stanley Doble]

Humble Oil Company ha ha ha as if. Lizzie I bet you get a laugh out of that one.

 

[LizzieMaine]

We had an Esso station in our town when I was growing up, with HUMBLE in big red letters over the door. I used to think that was terribly tacky -- if you're really humble, you don't have to advertise it.

Imagine my astonishment the first time I went to Canada and saw the "Imperial Esso Dealers." Nothing humble about them.

 

[Zombie_61]

Cool theatre Zombie...

Alex, the Wardman is a cool one for sure...

...Great looking theater Zombie...

It was better before they rebuilt it and split it into eight smaller theaters, but that particular section of "uptown Whittier" was hit pretty hard by the '87 earthquake so I can understand why the developers seized on the opportunity. For a while there that street looked more like downtown Beirut after a missile strike because many of the two-story storefronts collapsed. When they rebuilt them, the city chose to have everything painted in those awful late-1980s pastel colors and much of the city's appearance went from "timeless" to "horribly dated".

And another mystery solved thanks to Lizzie-pedia.

I've learned far more interesting history by reading Lizzie's posts than I ever learned in school. I suppose some would say it's important to know which color the horse was that George Washington rode to his dentist to have his teeth fumigated for termites in 1791, but it's never come up in any of my daily conversations. Thank you for your interesting and informative posts Miss Lizzie!

 

[1mach1]

Route 301 in Southern MD.

 

[Matt Crunk]

Visited this place just this morning for lunch. Shelby Street Diner in Indianapolis. Great food reviews. I had their One Pound chili dog and it was delicious. The place has enough vintage charm without the kitschy faux '50s décor, but I guess that appeals to some people.

 

[1mach1]

Matt...awesome!

 

[dh66]

Very cool, Matt. I've driven by there when up visiting my brother, but never stopped to eat. Must make it a point next time.

 

[dh66]

Great sign pics, Harv!

 

[1mach1]

Mikes Mustangs in Bryan's Road, MD.

 

[Matt Crunk]

Went out driving around the city (Indy) yesterday, enjoying my day off, and tracked down several old Diners in the area. I'll start out with this one which must have been magnificent in it's day, but is now diminished to a (gasp) Subway. Admittedly it's the coolest Subway I've ever seen, but a Subway none-the-less. Originally a 1954 Mountain View diner.

This one below is a real gem. An O'Mahony diner (#1121) from 1937. It was installed in Cleveland, OH from 1942-1956 as part of the American Diners chain. After that, it was moved to Munster, PA. In 1995, the diner was sold to Diversified Diners where it was restored. It was installed here in 2010, where today it is still in service. Unfortunately, it is not open to the public, so I could not go inside to take interior photos. It is owned by Angie's List, and only serves as a lunch counter to Angie's List employees. A real pity.

I plan to get over there some evening soon to get photos of this place all lit up in it's neon glory.

 

[Matt Crunk]

While not Golden Era, like the two diners above, I did have lunch at another pretty cool diner yesterday: The Steer-In. Featured on Food Network's Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives, it's been a local Indy institution since 1960. I had their famous Hoosier Tenderloin Sandwich.

 

[Fading Fast]

Matt, great pictures. Sad the first one is a Subway, but if it keeps it alive, so be it. The second one is a gem (looks like a converted train car) and, hopefully, one day it will be opened to the public again. Third one is a really neat, still-working, not-restored, "hey, I am what I am" diner - love it. Although, the fries (love crinkle cut) look a bit undercooked for my taste.

 

[Matt Crunk]

Some additional information on the above diner that's now a Subway: It was originally called the Meadowbrook Diner, and much or it's history can be found here: http://historicindianapolis.com/indianapolis-then-and-now-meadowbrook-diner-5151-e-38th-street/