Everything Old is New Again

Technology is, for better or worse, moving our society into directions thought unimaginable just a few decades ago. The ways we communicate have changed; the contents of our messages have changed (who could have predicated the at symbol (@) or the hashtag (#) would become such vital parts of our vernacular) and the electronics we use to connect with the world simultaneously become smaller and more powerful.

However, the more entrenched we become in high-powered electronic gadgetry, the more we seem to appreciate nostalgia that hearkens back to eras less inundated with perpetual stimuli. Professional sports teams periodically don “throwback” uniforms from decades ago; corporate product and brand managers market their products with logos and packaging reminiscent of what was seen long ago on store shelves, and, of greatest importance to signmakers, local- and regional-government officials are marketing their areas’ amenities by emphasizing historic districts or other destinations that chronicle a place’s past. Translation? New or restored signage that honors the place and rekindles interest in its legacy.

A few examples:
• Our December issue and www.signweb.com will feature the collaborative effort of freelance artist Brent Logan and Young Electric Sign Co.’s Reno branch to restore The Lariat Motel sign in Fallon, NV. Long a landmark, the sign was rescued when the original property was razed in 2005 for commercial development. When it was brought out of storage after eight years, they meticulous restored it to its formerly glory, and YESCO installed it onsite at Fallon’s Oats Park Arts Center.
• In Oklahoma, officials in Tulsa and Bethany are launching efforts to emphasize the cities’ Route 66 heritage by playing up signs’ prominent role as cultural touchstones and embodiments of economic growth. The Bethany Improvement Foundation is seeking sufficient land to build a billboard museum that celebrates the billboards and signs that once populated the Mother Road by creating a driving loop on its property that pays homage vintage billboards as they originally appeared. And, in Tulsa, members of the local Route 66 Task Force are creating blueprints for sign-code modifications to permit neon signs that replicate the appearance of signage as it would’ve appear in the Route 66 heyday.
• In Boise, ID – a city that’s transformed from a modest Big Sky burg into a hip urban mecca – the sign that formerly identified the Mode Building at the intersection of Eighth and Idaho downtown will be reborn at the same site when owner Russ Crawforth opens The Mode Lounge in January on the premises. Will Kirkman from Boise’s Rocket Neon restored tubing for the sign, which was originally built in the early ’60s.
• And, of course, theAmerican Sign Museum is an ever-present beacon to signs’ glorious past. Founder Tod Swormstedt has masterfully chronicled several signmaking eras – gilding and handlettering, porcelain-enamel, neon and more – that reinforce our industry’s vital role in commerce. You owe it to yourself to come to Cincinnati and see for yourself.