photos of old signs on the internet

Started by agentsteel53, January 28, 2009, 03:08:15 PM

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US71


.

Lincoln Highway Museum  Grand Junction, Iowa


Hamlet, IN
Like Alice I Try To Believe Three Impossible Things Before Breakfast


J3ebrules

Found this gem in my grandpa's albums. Loving this sign. His label marks the photo as being taken between 1948 - 1950. Sorry Grandma kinda got in the way.

Counting the cars on the New Jersey Turnpike - they’ve all come to look for America! (Simon & Garfunkel)

formulanone

Found this one from the Library of Congress; 1977 photo of a Wisconsin Route 32 sign, in Racine:


Drive-in Theater, Route 32, Kenosha, Wisconsin (LOC) by The Library of Congress, on Flickr

By the way, when did the "WIS" disappear from the state highway shield? I saw one today in my travels, and so had no idea it was there until I browsed the shield gallery.

Big John

^^ The DOT dropped it c. 1972, but counties continued doing it afterward, dropping it some time afterward depending on the county. Some can still be found in the wild, particularly in Waukesha County.

amroad17

Quote from: formulanone on February 14, 2020, 08:09:16 PM
Found this one from the Library of Congress; 1977 photo of a Wisconsin Route 32 sign, in Racine:


Drive-in Theater, Route 32, Kenosha, Wisconsin (LOC) by The Library of Congress, on Flickr

By the way, when did the "WIS" disappear from the state highway shield? I saw one today in my travels, and so had no idea it was there until I browsed the shield gallery.
I am finding it quite amusing that there is a photo of a "classic" drive-in theatre (of which there a very few of nowadays) and we are discussing the WIS 32 sign.  :D 

That drive-in looks great!  Interesting choice of movies--"Jailbait Babysitter"?  :hmm:

Anyway, some states had abbreviations on their state shield signs (NY, NC, OH come to mind) that now no longer have them.  I, myself, never minded seeing an abbreviation on these shields.
I don't need a GPS.  I AM the GPS! (for family and friends)

formulanone

#755
Quote from: amroad17 on February 15, 2020, 07:33:28 AM
Quote from: formulanone on February 14, 2020, 08:09:16 PM
Found this one from the Library of Congress; 1977 photo of a Wisconsin Route 32 sign, in Racine:


Drive-in Theater, Route 32, Kenosha, Wisconsin (LOC) by The Library of Congress, on Flickr

By the way, when did the "WIS" disappear from the state highway shield? I saw one today in my travels, and so had no idea it was there until I browsed the shield gallery.
I am finding it quite amusing that there is a photo of a "classic" drive-in theatre (of which there a very few of nowadays) and we are discussing the WIS 32 sign.  :D 

That drive-in looks great!  Interesting choice of movies--"Jailbait Babysitter"?  :hmm:

Anyway, some states had abbreviations on their state shield signs (NY, NC, OH come to mind) that now no longer have them.  I, myself, never minded seeing an abbreviation on these shields.

Well, it is the thread topic...admittedly, I think I've been to three drive-in theaters, so there's not much nostalgia value in it for me. Suburbia tended to not have drive-ins, so you had to go out of your want for them (the last being 1995 with a date).

My understanding is that once the theaters banded into a few groups, the drive-ins and mom-and-pops didn't get as many first-run movies and were left to show a lot of B-reel stuff that was usually a bit more gratuitous in nature.

jakeroot

I don't know why there's so many different shades of US Routes.

Photo taken in Tacoma, WA. Approximate location here (at the five-way intersection), looking Northwest (photo taken 1956 Nov 30):


jakeroot

#757
Because I know those cutouts aren't particularly interesting, here's another photo (1906 May 08) showing what was supposedly the first danger-related sign in Tacoma, WA:



Photo from the JoAnn E. Rovig Collection, Northwest Room, Tacoma.

Kniwt

Posted by the Arizona Daily Star, "Highway sign on Old Nogales Highway south of Tucson in July, 1956."



More 1950s here, including an at-grade intersection on the pre-I-10 Tucson Freeway:
https://tucson.com/news/local/a-look-at-what-life-was-like-in-tucson-in/collection_c34f395e-577e-11e7-bb57-fbb43e3ef96b.html#42

ModernDayWarrior

A few old signs from St. Louis that a friend shared on Facebook the other day:








mrsman

Quote from: ModernDayWarrior on February 25, 2020, 12:18:20 AM
A few old signs from St. Louis that a friend shared on Facebook the other day:






I really like the first sign.  While it may be somewhat complicated to actually follow that sign for driving purposes it is just so unique that it's nice that it was preserved in somebody's photograph.

It is also curious to me that it seems that they emphasize States over cities would be guards to destinations. 

Nexus 5X


kurumi

Bloomfield, Connecticut, 1951. The Route 187/189 freeway doesn't yet exist. Route 189 is part of Route 9 and is on the north bank of the Farmington River, near the old Spoonville Bridge. Route 187 ends here and does not continue south into Bloomfield.



More non-road pics in the article at https://www.knowol.com/information/connecticut/historical-pictures-connecticut/
My first SF/horror short story collection is available: "Young Man, Open Your Winter Eye"

Route66Fan

Quote from: mrsman on February 25, 2020, 08:22:02 AM
Quote from: ModernDayWarrior on February 25, 2020, 12:18:20 AM
A few old signs from St. Louis that a friend shared on Facebook the other day:






I really like the first sign.  While it may be somewhat complicated to actually follow that sign for driving purposes it is just so unique that it's nice that it was preserved in somebody's photograph.

It is also curious to me that it seems that they emphasize States over cities would be guards to destinations. 

Nexus 5X
This is what the location of the sign, in the first picture, looks like now.

brucester4

#763
This is a screen capture from an old film.  It was taken near Christmas Island, Nova Scotia in the 1950's.  I thought it was neat.

NE2

pre-1945 Florida route log

I accept and respect your identity as long as it's not dumb shit like "identifying as a vaccinated attack helicopter".

hbelkins



Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

kphoger

Quote from: hbelkins on May 22, 2020, 02:53:01 PM
On VDOT's Facebook page today.



They should bring back US-0.0472222222222222222222222222222
Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
Visit scenic Orleans County, NY!
Male pronouns, please.

Quote from: Philip K. DickIf you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.

US71

Quote from: hbelkins on May 22, 2020, 02:53:01 PM
On VDOT's Facebook page today.



That old 17/360 looks great. I want it ;)
Like Alice I Try To Believe Three Impossible Things Before Breakfast

NE2

pre-1945 Florida route log

I accept and respect your identity as long as it's not dumb shit like "identifying as a vaccinated attack helicopter".

kphoger

Quote from: NE2 on June 10, 2020, 05:05:48 PM


https://www.google.com/maps/@-27.4135448,-70.3548059,3a,15y,307.01h,83.47t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sTsavsYYdoQZ1OfY03qKcpg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

The newer style uses the region number (in this case III REGION) instead of the region name.

Do you know if Jake Bear made it into Chile while he was down that way several years ago?

Unfortunately, it appears his photo blog website thingy has been deleted, so I cannot hunt through it for shields.
Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
Visit scenic Orleans County, NY!
Male pronouns, please.

Quote from: Philip K. DickIf you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.

spitball

Quote from: J3ebrules on July 14, 2019, 07:24:24 PM
I've passed this sign a few times and wondered as to its date - I know that AAA used to post these predominantly in the 1910's - 1920's, but it just seems so... new? It's almost in TOO good condition? It's at the end of King's Highway in Haddonfield, NJ. Does anyone have an idea if this was a real original AAA sign from the 1920's?



Wow, I don't recall seeing any of those, although I probably have.  That certainly does look much newer than 80 years!

Do you collect any Jersey signage?

J3ebrules

Quote from: spitball on June 19, 2020, 03:12:44 PM
Quote from: J3ebrules on July 14, 2019, 07:24:24 PM
I've passed this sign a few times and wondered as to its date - I know that AAA used to post these predominantly in the 1910's - 1920's, but it just seems so... new? It's almost in TOO good condition? It's at the end of King's Highway in Haddonfield, NJ. Does anyone have an idea if this was a real original AAA sign from the 1920's?



Wow, I don't recall seeing any of those, although I probably have.  That certainly does look much newer than 80 years!

Do you collect any Jersey signage?

I don't; too expensive a hobby (although I love Turnpike stuff and would shell out for old Turnpike tickets).

There are a few in Camden County, all in decent shape although that's the cleanest one I've seen. If you're familiar with Haddonfield, it's on NJ 41 (Kings Highway) leaving the downtown area southbound.
Counting the cars on the New Jersey Turnpike - they’ve all come to look for America! (Simon & Garfunkel)

spitball

Quote from: J3ebrules on June 20, 2020, 01:31:31 AM
Quote from: spitball on June 19, 2020, 03:12:44 PM
Quote from: J3ebrules on July 14, 2019, 07:24:24 PM
I've passed this sign a few times and wondered as to its date - I know that AAA used to post these predominantly in the 1910's - 1920's, but it just seems so... new? It's almost in TOO good condition? It's at the end of King's Highway in Haddonfield, NJ. Does anyone have an idea if this was a real original AAA sign from the 1920's?



Wow, I don't recall seeing any of those, although I probably have.  That certainly does look much newer than 80 years!

Do you collect any Jersey signage?

I don't; too expensive a hobby (although I love Turnpike stuff and would shell out for old Turnpike tickets).

There are a few in Camden County, all in decent shape although that's the cleanest one I've seen. If you're familiar with Haddonfield, it's on NJ 41 (Kings Highway) leaving the downtown area southbound.

I don't know Haddonfield in great detail, though I definitely know where it is.  I have always lived in North and Central Jersey. 

MrManlet

#773
Old US-20 shield that is still there as of June 2019. There used to be another one on the other side of the bridge but they replaced it several years ago. Haven't been that way in a while to know for sure if it's still there.

https://www.google.com/maps/@42.2360119,-88.8611447,3a,20.7y,31.42h,86.61t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s0l41pCJdadVGdNOwjLmoIQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D0l41pCJdadVGdNOwjLmoIQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D20.515038%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192

Also this guide sign near the location of the previous sign doesn't look like a typical IDOT install.

https://www.google.com/maps/@42.2395932,-88.8614565,3a,15y,214.99h,91.32t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sSvsbsf5uOGWpzCJe4LAFzw!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

Alex




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