Ranstead

Ranstead, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

I have taken to looking at rooflines more and more of late, finally realizing that there's often a name and date inscribed at the peak, sometimes some interesting decoration or brickwork, some bright colors, or in this case all three.

I have plenty of shots like this but haven't really ever published them. I'm starting to realize what I missed.

Taken in Elgin, IL, in december of 2013.

Bowlway

Bowlway-Elgin, IL, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

Bowlway bowling alley in Elgin, Illinois. Not a vintage sign, but a cool one nonetheless. Again, all bowling alleys should have cool neon signs out front!

Moose Lodge 799

Moose Lodge-Elgin, IL, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

An oldie but a goodie! This vintage sign was on the Moose Lodge 799's building in downtown Elgin, Illinois. The sign was in pretty bad shape by the time I shot it in 2009, and the lodge had moved to a new location by then as well. But it still looked pretty cool, very Streamline Moderne. It disappeared sometime in 2010, reputedly stolen off the building.

Thinking about it, I've noticed that Moose lodges tend to have neon signs out front-I'll have to take a closer look as I drive around exploring.

The Colonial Motel

The Colonial Motel-Elgin, IL, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

I don't know much (okay, anything) about the Colonial Motel, except that it's on the east side of Elgin, just off U.S. Route 20, the Grant Highway. Which makes sense, because the Grant is a coast-to-coast road, and motels dot the length of it.

Oh, and it has this excellent fifties sign out front-I can totally imagine rolling up in an old '59 Chevy, back in the day.

Workin' At The Car Wash Blues

Elgin Car Wash-Elgin, IL, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

A non-neon Neon Friday entry. This classic old sign is in Elgin, Illinois. It looks a little beat up but it works pretty well.

SHerwood 2-2296

SHerwood 2-2296, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

I love finding alphanumeric phone numbers still in situ. They turn up all over the place sometimes-old business cards or matchbooks, old ashtrays, old signs, old boxes and sometimes, old trucks.

Pleasantly, this truck hasn't strayed too far from it's home in Elgin, either.

SHerwood 2-2296

SHerwood 2-2296, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

It's been a sort of a trend in old car circles to paint up trucks in old, flat, faded paint, with artificially worn signwriting on the sides. I kind of like it-usually such paint jobs are fun and don't take themselves too seriously.

This one, though, is the real deal. It's a 1960's International Harvester Metro step van, formerly in the stable of the M.C. Lohbauer heating repair company. Note the genuine old phone number (a real number, in fact), and the old Republic sticker. A really neat piece of local history.