Vintage neon signs

[LizzieMaine]

That's a pretty good approximation of the actual Apollo command and service modules of the 1960s -- it's kind of surprising to see a big neon job like that being manufactured that late in the game. Public opinion in the mid-sixties had already turned emphatically anti-neon, and many towns were passing ordinances against such signs.

 

[3fingers]

Public opinion in the mid-sixties had already turned emphatically anti-neon, and many towns were passing ordinances against such signs.

I know that is true, but why were these widespread abominations considered OK?
Nothing screams trash like one of these sitting out front weighted down with a pile of concrete blocks.

 

[Ghostsoldier]

Stopped in Tallahassee Saturday night to eat here... good BBQ.

Rob

 

[LizzieMaine]

I know that is true, but why were these widespread abominations considered OK?
Nothing screams trash like one of these sitting out front weighted down with a pile of concrete blocks.

I suspect the sudden appearance of such masterful examples of the signmakers' art was a way of getting around local ordinances. The owner could easily say when the code officer came around, "It's temporary! Lookit the wheels! Ord'nance don't say nothin' 'bout temporary signs!"

The mid-sixties "highway/downtown beautification" movement is worthy of study, I think. It led to an aesthetic homogenization the likes of which the country had never seen before -- some critics called it "The Browning Of America," thanks to all the brown fake mansard roofs and phony composition brickface going on gas stations, motels, and fast food joints. And because it was such a uniform look it dated almost immediately, the American equivalent to cinder-block apartment houses in East Germany.

How this tedious, unattractive look suddenly became the Desired Ideal for the entire country is a story worth examining, but it's gotten comparatively little study over the years. When it's discussed you'll generally get a mention of Lady Bird Johnson, and "women's club agitation," but seldom does the finger point where it really ought to be pointed -- straight at the Boys From Marketing and their theories of "place-product-packaging" which drove this push for suburbanized uniformity.

Brown was a color that promoted feelings of "hominess" and "trust" according to the psychological manipulators advising the Boys, and the idea was that wherever you were, whether you were driving into a gas station or buying a cheap soggy hamburger or even going to the proctologist in an office park, what you really craved was the warm embrace of home and hearth. Thus soothed, the Boys theorized, you were more amenable to spending more money, because home, after all, is where the wallet is. Bright colors, on the other hand, like you find on flashy neon signs and shiny porcelain enamel walls, got you agitated and worked up and actually made you defensive about spending money, and we wouldn't want that....

 

[Fading Fast]

Another example of putting a large image of what you are selling on your sign and you got yourself a winner:

 

[dh66]

And because it was such a uniform look it dated almost immediately, the American equivalent to cinder-block apartment houses in East Germany.

That's a pretty spot on observation. The homogenization of America. From Maine to Mississippi the freeway exits all look the same. The only way I know I'm in another part of the country is the accent of the cashier.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[1mach1]

Charlottesville, VA.

Night and day

 

[KY Gentleman]

 

[2jakes]

Beautiful neon could be seen from a distance at night!

Route 66 on Clayton Road junction of South Skinker Blvd. St. Louis

1937
The thought about what the market for gas was like back at the time. One could assume that the competition was fierce to sell in the depression era, and the oil companies had to resort to such over-the-top signage.

 

[LizzieMaine]

That sign lasted until 1959, when it was torn down and replaced by Standard of Indiana's new internally-lit torch-and-oval logo. The revised sign survived the elimination of the Amoco brand by BP and is now ready to go as the brand is being resurrected.

 

[Fading Fast]

That sign lasted until 1959, when it was torn down and replaced by Standard of Indiana's new internally-lit torch-and-oval logo. The revised sign survived the elimination of the Amoco brand by BP and is now ready to go as the brand is being resurrected.

Interesting that BP still sees brand value in Amoco. And funny that the sign survived long enough to come back into use. Was it (1) happenstance (2) historical preservation protection in some way or (3) too darn expensive to remove?

 

[LizzieMaine]

I think it was probably a combination of all three. The sign is very popular in St. Louis as a kitsch landmark, and there would likely have been an uproar if BP decided to take it down. Plus BP's own logo is incredibly lame, so if they put it up there in place of the Amoco sign it would face much derision.

The torch-and-oval clearly wasn't thought up by a marketing psychologist and approved by a focus group -- it's a combination of the Standard of Indiana torch and the American Oil Company oval, probably scratched out on the back of an envelope in 1947 -- and people seem to instinctively appreciate its lack of Boys From Marketing polish.

It's hokey, but in a good way. I think people are ripe right now for the return of that kind of corny logo as a relief from the hyper-processed high-tech trademarks we've had shoved down our throats over the last thirty years or so.

 

[2jakes]

A survivor thanks to the Ladies Consevation Society!

At the corner of Austin Hwy & Broadway in city of Alamo Heights.
The working Mobil “ pegasus” is still atop the building which has been converted to a retail shop.

 

[Fading Fast]

I like the Deco, the iconic brands, the support wires and the simplicity:

 

[2jakes]

When it was a store/warehouse in
late 1800s. Before neon signs.
I'm sure if they had ....

 

[Ghostsoldier]

From the gas station thread...

Rob

 

[3fingers]

Slim Olson's is still in business. Run by his grandchildren.

 

[Fading Fast]

This one is different:



and very Fedora Lounge-y

 

[2jakes]

This one the rates have been slashed very low.

 

[Ghostsoldier]

[emoji16][emoji3]

Rob