Might anyone from the Bloomington Illinois area have a photo of this when it was in use? It has been down for 20 or more years
Wow! I have no Idea how I missed this thread for 122 pages. I love old signs, especially the hand painted ones. These are a few I have liberated from a not so bright future. But for my all time favorite it has to be the AAA signs building here in Boise. I was always fascinated with this place as a kid, always wondered what treasures where lurking inside. The original owner and founder of the business, Paul Ashley, must have painted almost every sign, bus and even snow cat in Boise and a lot of the surrounding area from the late 40's up until hand painted signs where starting to lose favor to more modern techniques. Not only did Paul do signs, but also body work and paint out of the back of the shop. Here is a picture of Chris's roadster in front of the shop after the trip to Bonneville. As can be seen by this picture the building was repainted due to vandals destroying some of the original work, However the business is lucky enough to be in good and capable hands of a friend of mine who is bringing the business back to life. If you pay attention in the video you can catch a glimpse of the way the building used to look http://vimeo.com/29861858 Mike
But for my all time favorite it has to be the AAA signs building here in Boise. I was always fascinated with this place as a kid, always wondered what treasures where lurking inside. The original owner and founder of the business, Paul Ashley, must have painted almost every sign, bus and even snow cat in Boise and a lot of the surrounding area from the late 40's up until hand painted signs where starting to lose favor to more modern techniques. Not only did Paul do signs, but also body work and paint out of the back of the shop. Here is a picture of Chris's roadster in front of the shop after the trip to Bonneville. As can be seen by this picture the building was repainted due to vandals destroying some of the original work, However the business is lucky enough to be in good and capable hands of a friend of mine who is bringing the business back to life. If you pay attention in the video you can catch a glimpse of the way the building used to look http://vimeo.com/29861858 Mike[/QUOTE] Nice photo, excellent video! Thanks!
I wish there were old buildings like this one here in our area so I could buy it, move in and build my Hot Rods all day long.
Here are pic's of the only signs I have so far. My Grandpa gave me the Texaco sign before he passed away in 1983, but I was not permitted to take it home until recently as it still had a purpose. I bought the Opaline sign at an auction about a block from my house. The small signs belonged to my Father-in-law when he had a repair shop in Fairport, Ks. Rod
I know a lot of the signs in this thread still exist "in the wild" but there are hundreds of cool examples every year at Hershey and thought I'd post some pictures of them here... -Tim
Anyone have any old Bonneville Salt Flats signs? There used to be several billboard-type signs out there back in the day. One had Ab Jenkins picture on it with a list of the current speed records. Super cool... I've tried to track those down, but with no success. The crazy thing is, the BLM says the signs were most likely privately owned. The BLM would not have controlled the salt flats back then, so SOMEONE placed these things out there on the salt and now nobody knows where they are.... Interesting little mystery. SCTA maybe? Driving me nuts.
The first picture is the billboard type sign that was used during the late 50's early 60's. The second one is the remade billboard from the movie "Fastest Indian" 3rd is the Ab Jenkins sign from the 30's? The next two are of the filling station on the salt & the awards presantion also done on the salt in the 60's
Dynoroom, those are great pics! Thanks for sharing. There's still one more that was used sometime in the 30's-40's that had Ab Jenkins face painted on it, as well as the guy from England that held some records (I'm drawing a blank on his name right now). So my question is this: WHO owned those signs? If it wasn't the BLM, who put those up on BLM land? Who took them down? Where'd they go? (probably went to the wendover dump, or were painted over/re-used). That filling station is super cool!
I bought some new 11w red and yellow ceramic bulbs for my crown sign. Works like a champ after sitting in the desert for 25 years.
I hit the jackpot on these original California road signs. Got them from the grandson of a retired California DOT worker. About 75% of them are porcelain and Automobile Club of Southern California. I think they range from the 1950's to the 80's.
Jim, It's bad enough that you've got the market cornered on magnesium wheels, now you're going into old signs too!!?? Are you selling any of them?
Shakey, it's official- you've been bit. I warned you the old signs are addicting. Good luck man, this is a tough bug to shake! Way cool signs! You definitely scored. It would only make sense to sell me one of your crown signs to offset the cost of your highway signs. I'm waiting for the pm. lol......
The Jalopy Journal
