4/30/07

Great Signs

It's too bad most business signs are just too big to put in some sort of museum. Tallahassee's had some great ones. The old Northwood Mall triangle/arrow. The neon Prince Murat motel sign, which so often seemed to advertise the Prince Rat. The Office Lounge sign, which actually looks modern-retro with its martini glass shape. Both the State Theatre and Florida Theatre signs, classic art deco. The Firestone "shield" sign on North Monroe that was recently replaced with a much less interesting piece (although the old signs are still used in several places on the building).

If you've got pictures of any classics, show 'em off. If I missed your favorites, let me know.

13 comments:

My life the jigsaw puzzle said...

Tallahassee Buff eh? What could you suggest to not make me hate it so much? Right now I think it is the most boring place in the world.

That Hank said...

Well, what all do you like to do? What are your interests?

Anonymous said...

1951, Photo of Firestone Store, including sign
1951, Another Exterior View, including sign
1951, Interior of Store
To find these I went to
at
and searched on
Tallahassee Firestone

In general, search on Tallahassee and then whatever seems likely.

That Hank said...

That's photo archives is one of my favorite online time wasters.

Miss Trashahassee said...

Was lookin' at yearbooks the other day an' saw a picture that had the Northwood Mall sign in it.

BFF,
Miss T

That Hank said...

Any chance you can copy it or scan it or something? I'd love to have another look at it.

Miss Trashahassee said...

Sure -- It's a black and white pic -- not so good quality, but it can be scanned. I'll e-mail a copy of it to you as soon as I get a chance to scan it in.

BFF,
Miss T

That Hank said...

Awesome - that rocks.

reblev said...

Great comment about the Office Lounge sign. As a former employee (bartender) of this classic establishment (now closed, alas), I always thought that sign was exactly as you described....very retro.

Downtownguy, I like your "redneck" attitude about Killearn a...hole moms in SUVs (not to mention lawyers & yankees)...keep up the good work! Sorry, I'm not supposed to use the word "redneck" anymore, not PC....so now does the word "yankee" violate the PC police codes also...?

That Hank said...

Thanks, man. Go on, use redneck if ya want. Better a redneck than a carpetbagger any day.

I've figured out what's worse than Killearn SUV moms: their teenage kids. All those SUVs that got bought in the early 2000s are now being handed over to 16 year olds as their beater first cars. Nothing scarier than a big ass tank full of kids doing 70 down Tennessee Street.

Miss Trashahassee said...

DG,

I just scanned in the Northwood Mall photo from the 1976 Cougar (Godby). It's not the greatest pic but there's other stuff in there that's interesting, too -- like Tally's second McDonald's and the Silver Slipper sign.

My 14-year-old son was looking over my shoulder as I was scanning the pic in. "Wow, Mom," he says, "over 60 stores." I wanted to smack him.

Laughing my heinie off at this:

Nothing scarier than a big ass tank full of kids doing 70 down Tennessee Street.

Child, that's been going on in Tallahassee ever since vehicles was invented. Back in 1980 I was one of those kids along for the ride in a friend's 1976 family Suburban cruisin' up and down Tennessee Street at who-knows-what speed. Not sure which was worse: the Suburban or the 1971 VW Superbeetle. We was heck on wheels either way ...

BFF,
Miss T

P.S. We didn't live in Killearn. They ain't got no trailer hookups there.

Miss Trashahassee said...

DG,

OK, I can't e-mail the pic to you because your e-mail address isn't on your blog. So ... let's try this another way. See if this link works:

Northwood Mall Sign Pic

If the link doesn't work, let me know your e-mail address.

That Hank said...

That's awesome! "Over 60 Stores"

Remember the old Lucy Ho's that was there? An old guy always sat in the back eating rice candy and giving the prizes (little toys, not just stickers back then) to any kids in the restaurant.

And if you ever want my email address for sign pics or any old thing: drunkonpabst at gmail dot com.