Recent Finds

Here are some new wall sign discoveries in my travels in Missouri and Illinois during this Year of Our Lord 2013. Some are old ghosts and some newly exposed.

*_hester _owell _lothier Red Bud, IL 2013*

Intriguing sign on the side of a health food on Main Street Red Bud. As one may see, the older brick ad has been saved and actually framed against an application of new brick. However, the first letters of the three words have been omitted in the process. It’s a safe bet that the first name is Chester and he was a Clothier, but the surname? It may have been Lowell, Powell, Dowell, or even Howell. The sign’s painter signed his named “McMullen”; perhaps he knows.

Large wall sign in downtown KC executed and likely still maintained by Arbuckle Signs. The Rieger Hotel opened in 1915 and was home to traveling salesmen, railroad workers, and assorted characters during Kansas City’s formative years. Note that the distiller of Monogram Whiskey has the same surname as the hotel.

Lee & Louise Town & Country Restaurant
Cobden, IL 2013

Cobden is an old-timey railroad town in Southern Illinois and Coca Cola certainly dominates this corner with three different types of signage.

Re-do of an older ad on the side of Mueth’s Tavern in the hamlet of Smithton. The retro sign was executed in July 2011 by Courtney Louveau and Olivia von Boker. The 3 Vs stood for vim, vigor and vitality. The cola was the first to come in a 16-ounce bottle and thus the slogan, “You Get a Third More.”

Another “reveal” at the corner of Morganford and Juniata just south of Tower Grove Park. This is the fifth sign for Hyde Park Beer in the City of St. Louis of which I am aware.The brewery, located in the Hyde Park neighborhood in North St. Louis, operated from 1876 to 1958. The beer’s slogan: “Seldom Equaled, Never Excelled.”

*Otto Speichinger’s Tavern Millstadt, IL 2013*

Well-preserved west-facing sign located at E. Washington and S. Breese in bucolic Millstadt. It’s only slightly odd that a soft drink company would pay for advertising on a tavern. The tavern still operates with a popular fish fry stand on the outdoor patio; however, the sound of blasting pins is no longer heard in the 4-lane bowling alley upstairs.

*Poke-A-Dot Lounge South St. Louis 2013*

Old saloon sign exposed at the corner of Jefferson and Cherokee sometime in October, 2013. Note the pile of clay shingles [or whatever they’re called] up against the building where they have been chipped off the facade.

*Multi-layered Sign Cherokee Street South St. Louis 2013*

Large, old sign with several ads jumbled up and run together, although nothing is legible except the word “Chew” at the top of the wall. When I figure this one out I will let you know.

London Ghost Signs

3-Dimensional Business Cards

Wm. Stage