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.