letterage

I had twenty brief minutes to wander and shoot before [one of] my favorite aunt[s] materialized for breakfast Friday morning in Portland -- which was only time enough to cover one brief block of a district teaming with luscious vintage signage.

And let's not talk about the amazing San Francisco Chinatown neon that I found first in the dark, and then pined after in the pre-dawn as I loaded into my cab for the ride to SFO to catch my 7AM flight.

All good reasons to return soon for more.

red's

Espanola, NM

uneeda biscuit (honest, you do)

Richmond, VA

feeds and seeds

Richmond, VA

south of houston

south of houston
Originally uploaded by suttonhoo.

Just South of Houston which, I'm told, means we're in Soho. (SOuth HOuston)

And Houston? By all means *don't* pronounce it like a city in Texas -- instead lead with the word "house" if you want to avoid the subsequent moment in which the cabbie asks: "So where are you from?"

Which carries the subtext: "Because clearly you're not from here."

Posting by cameraphone from NYC

shoe repair

repair
Originally uploaded by suttonhoo.

Why yes, Virginia: As a matter of fact there IS a whole Flickr group dedicated entirely to shoe repair signage »

vacancy

I have it on good authority that the Big Bunny Motel was originally the “Bugs Bunny” Motel, before the folks at Warner Brothers brought the copyright hammer down on the owners.

If you look closely you can see how the sign was modified to accommodate the evolution.

Denver, CO
On Colfax Ave

bricklayer

Ever notice? When Dorothy lands in Oz and the Munchkins show her the trailhead of the Yellow Brick Road, there’s a Red Brick Road that starts at exactly the same spot, spiraling off in the opposite direction.

I wanna know where that road goes.

Shot some red brick and hand-lettered signage to excess in Denver’s Lodo (lower downtown) historic warehouse district while I was away.

Here’s the set »

Here’s the slideshow »

newly minted vintage

Mt. Tahoma Diner, 1960's
Originally uploaded by Roadsidepictures.

Is there a word for this: Gorgeous Polaroids of vintage signage before time passes and the "retro" designation settles in?

And if there is, then I'm sure there's a word for girls like me who get all damp when they hear the words "signage+polaroid" in the same sentence.

Roadside Pictures has posted a found collection of polaroid prints on Flickr, taken by someone who worked for a sign company in the 1950s and 60s.

And to make it even better: they're all from my home turf of Washington state (just down the road from Seattle, it looks like -- near Tacoma, Puyallup and Gig Harbor.)

No. Wait. To make it EVEN better, many bear ballpoint sketches of what may have been works in progress.



Retro-fitted retro.

Clickthrough for the slideshow, baby »

passing

I don't know about you, but I've never been any good at it.

Passing, I mean.

Shot on the road to Taos, NM, earlier this summer.

(not) broadway

Hannibal, MO

and now for a little neon

You know you're in Tahoe when the "Stardust" is a "Lodge".

Click here for a quickie »

just don't.

Don't block the box.

Street signs that appear regularly around NYC. Still haven't figured out what box they're talking about -- the bus stop maybe?

Posting from JFK. Outbound to Boston.

parking private

parking private
Originally uploaded by suttonhoo.

Flickr'ng by cameraphone from Vancouver, WA

please use side door

Las Vegas, NV