Walnut Hill Liquors

Walnut Hill Liquors, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

Spotted this gem in Freeport, Illinois, as I was traveling along the Grant on my way to Iowa. Well seasoned, but a nice example of fifties/sixties neon goodness. Plus the glass still seems to be in good nick-I should go back that way and see if they still light it up!

Nip 'N' Tote

Nip 'N' Tote, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

Rudy's Liquors in Peru, Illinois. Pretty cool vintage sign, with a lot going on-stripes, bold colors, and chasers. It seems like it's in pretty good shape too, as it was turned on this bright sunny day.

Nip 'n' Tote seems backwards, though-surely you tote then nip?

What'll Ya Have?

IMG_0330, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

Vintage Pabst Blue Ribbon beer sign. It's hung on the side of a former liquor store or bar (I think it was a restaurant, as it has a drive up window too) in Rochelle, Illinois. It's an antique store now, but this old sign is hanging in there.

Shot with Hipstamatic, with a side trip through the Lo-Mob app for extra texture.

Liquor Store

Liquor Store-Aurora, IL, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

This old liquor store neon sign probably said something else before the Budweiser plastic was installed. I don't know if it's original to this place or not-I think it's a bar now, not a liquor store.

House of Bottles

House of Bottles, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

Happy Neon Friday!

I can't tell how old this sign is-the building is maybe thirty years old, but this slab seems a bit older. I like the font and the animated cork-I should really make an effort to go up there at night and shoot it!

Foremost Liquors

Foremost Liquors neon sign, originally uploaded by William 74.

Foremost Liquors was/is a chain of liquor stores that at one time had outlets in 17 states, although now I only see them in the Chicago area. The brainchild of a guy named Irving Robins, Foremost was set up as a sort of co-op for liquor store owners, giving them a unified name and better advertising to help compete against the big guys. It worked, and Foremost is still well known, at least in the Chicago area, for it's dancing liquor bottle mascot.

This sign is on Chicago's far north side, in or around the Uptown/Edgewater area (I forget which side of the boundary this falls on). But there are several more in the city, and at least two out in Aurora as well. All of them seem to have one thing in common-really old signs. I kinda like 'em more for it.