Thursday, August 26, 2010

The Big Photo Challenge...SIGNS


The Big Photo Challenge


This weeks Big Photo Challenge is Signs.

I've always been fascinated by the faded and crumbling signs painted on the old brick buildings around our town. These were the bill boards of yesteryear. They advertized old wagon, tobacco, and dry goods as well as soft drinks we still see today. I went around town on the way home tonight and shot some pictures of some of these signs with my Nikon Coolpix S210 pocket camera so you could see some of them before they are all painted over or torn down.




This is an old wagon maker with the giant steam plant smoke stacks in the background.
Taken in sepia.





LaAzora cigars were only 15 cents and hotel rooms were 50 cents per day and up and boasted of steam heat.




The Frederic Hotel encouraged us to buy Rex Flour because "Rex is King".






Black and white photo showed Ketchum & Son sold Wholesale Dry Goods (what are dry goods?).






Coca-Cola was even popular back then, I guess because it was "Delicious and Refreshing".
You can see another rendition of the Cola-Cola bleeding out from under the paint.





The Globe Hotel is still operating as a Bar & Grill but don't exspect to get a room upstairs for 75 cents. Sepia seemed appropriate for this vintage sign.





The old City Ramp parking garage must have been a beautiful sight in its heyday with Art Deco finish and salmon paint. It's now dirty and falling apart with paint peeling off onto the sidewalk below.




and finally...





The modern version of the store side advertizing sign completed just today.
It took a vivid setting on camera to get the whole effect of this bright and shiny new painted sign.