Gas For Less

Gas For Less, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

No Gas is more like it. This ancient vacuform sign is in Aurora, Illinois, tucked away around the corner of a building on a side street in a residential neighborhood. It's seen better days, clearly. It's still got a little towing globe on the top (which is all busted up), and it used to say "& Body" where it now says "Repair".

There are no gas pumps in evidence anymore, but I think some sort of repair work still goes on here. Spotted from a bike path that goes right by this building, reinforcing my opinion that it pays to walk around the back streets.

Redman's Yarn Emporium

Redman's Yarn Emporium, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

A vintage, faded, partially painted over sign in downtown Streator, Illinois. I imagine this started out as a knitting store and ended up just being a dime store or something, judging from the faded paint covering up "YARN". The store was undergoing a remodel when I walked past, judging from the construction debris in the doorway.

Tastee-Freez

Tastee-Freez-North Aurora, IL, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

Founded in the 1950's, Tastee-Freez originally focused just on ice cream products, but as the chain expanded so did the menu, moving into fast food items as well as the traditional cones and shakes. The chain eventually grew to over a thousand locations by the end of the 50's. Fewer than fifty are still around today.

This one was in North Aurora, Illinois, and was undergoing renovation when I shot this in 2009. The building was completely re-done, but I don't know if the restaurant actually opened up again-I never actually saw anyone inside it. The building's closed up again, and this sign, which was from the sixties, disappeared sometime in July or August 2012.

Enjoy Sprite!

Enjoy Sprite!, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

Of all the pop brands out there, the one you usually see being used as a store sign somewhere is Coke, followed by Pepsi. Other things show up, but are few and far between compared to the Big Two. This one's a sixties Sprite sign, advertising a grocery store in Rockford, Illinois. I've only ever seen one of these old Sprite signs, up north near Wisconsin, perched on top of an old gas station in the middle of nowhere.

I think it's pretty cool, especially with the stars in the middle section, and it's in fantastic shape.

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.

Ziegler Music

Ziegler Music, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

Ziegler Music is an Aurora institution, having been in business for.....well forever it seems. Now located on Broadway, this sign-repurposed from a previous location-is around the back of the building, and advertises Conn organs.

G.C. Conn Ltd. manufactured a variety of instruments for over a hundred years. I know nothing about organs, but Mr. Ziegler (whom I met totally by accident when shooting this) claims that they were some of the best organs he sold in his store.

Colonnade Motel

Colonnade Motel, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

I've passed this sign dozens of times on my way west along the Lincoln Highway, and have only recently stopped to shoot it. The sky was perfect, the lighting just right, and the parking lot wasn't so full that people would stare.

I note that this sign looks like it was painted over at some point, which makes me wonder if it used to say something other than "Colonnade". The plastic sign on the side of the building, which clearly used to be in an illuminated fixture, makes me think this even more.

Your Neighborhood Supper Club

Your Neighborhood Supper Club, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

Plastic vacuformed sign outside the B.C. Club in tiny Arlington, Illinois. The restaurant appears to be one of two businesses in the town. At least I assume so, it may not be open-I didn't see signs to say one way or the other.

If Arlington sounds familiar, we visited their excellent-and now demolished-grain elevator last year.

Steele Jewelry

Stele Jewelry, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

Vintage vacuformed sign in Mendota, Illinois. I used to ignore these plastic fantastics, in my quest for fun vintage Googie-tastic neon slabs, or fadetastic ghosts painted on walls, but the more I see them the more I like them. They've often got cool graphics and genuine character, and they're often in better shape than old neon.

I shall continue to search them out.

Dairy Sweet

Dairy Sweet, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

I can't find any info about Dairy Sweet, other than it seems to be a Midwestern ice cream shop chain, and the few that are still around are in pretty small, rural towns. Other than that, I've got nothin'.

This one is in the town of Ohio, Illinois, and is currently closed.

The Big 1

The Big 1, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

Originally brewed right here in Chicago by the Peter Hand Brewing Company, Meister Brau was a pretty popular brew in the city and suburbs. Meister Brau also released the first mainstream reduced calorie beer, Meister Brau Lite, which, when Miller took over Peter Hand, became what we now know as Miller Lite.

I don't think I've ever actually had a Meister Brau-I think it had gone out of production by the time I was old enough to buy my own beer. I still have a fondness for it, if only because of their sponsorship of Harry Heuer's sports car racing team back in the sixties. And, Fun Fact! Meister Brau is the favored brew of Cousin Eddie from the Vacation films.

I found this relic in the back of a little bar in downtown Hampshire, Illinois, facing the alley. It looks pretty beat up, and I wonder if it still lights up.

24 Lanes

24 Lanes, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

Sadly de-glassed, the Dodge Lanes sign in Belvidere, Illinois is a classic Googie-tastic slab.

Seriously, all bowling alleys should have awesome neon signs out front.

Sunoco

Sunoco, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

A very old plastic Sunoco sign, on the side of a repair shop in Paw Paw, Illinois. I have no idea if this was a Sunoco station at some time or not-it was one of those generic looking cinderblock garages, so it could've switched brands plenty of times. Heck, it may have never been a gas station at all-I didn't notice any remnants of a pump island or anything.

This looks suspiciously like one half of a plastic illuminated sign, so maybe it was hung there as decoration.

Kirkland I.G.A.

Kirkland I.G.A., a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

The Independent Grocers Alliance was founded in 1926 when a group of independent merchants in New York and Connecticut organized into a unified marketing system. By the 1930's there were over 8,000 IGA stores, all of them independently owned. The franchise model remains today, with IGA overseeing several resources that are shared between member stores, most visibly the IGA store brand products and the logistics of shipping them.

IGA stores have frequently been found in smaller towns and cities throughout the country, and this former store in Kirkland, Illinois is one of them. I have no idea how old the sign is-I believe it's been a while since the company was known as I.G.A., and I imagine this sign is from the sixties.

Associated Salvage Company

Associated Salvage Company, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

Ghost sign on a side street just off of Broadway in Nashville. This building has a nice collection of ghost signage as well-the inside appears to be under renovation. I think it'd make an awesome gallery or studio.