Signs

As one drives around the rural portions of the southern US, one sometimes finds interesting bits of kitsch leftover from bygone days. Perhaps that is true for other areas of the country as well? One day while driving around looking for old barns to photograph for my Old Barn Project, I was delighted to find this shed adorned with old metal signage.

The iconic Coca Cola sign takes center stage. I clearly remember seeing Shell Oil Company and Pure Oil Company signs when I was a child, perched atop poles at gasoline stations. I also remember Standard Oil, but with a different logo. The Polaris and Atlantic brands elude my memory, though, or perhaps they were more prevalent in other areas of the country than where I was raised.

I find it exciting that someone is displaying /preserving this part of our history, and I am sure many people who drive past remember those signs and the companies behind them. It's also fun to see such quirky and colorful signs decorating the landscape in unexpected locations.

This particular landowner has gone much further, however, as seen in the below screenshot from Google Maps "Street View" of the area. There is a Phillips 66 sign hanging from a pole in the exact manner that I remember signs hanging when I was a child. I have no clue what's at the base of that sign, though — it almost looks like the head of a lion, or a gargoyle! LOL! Then there are a couple of automobiles, one of them rather old, under a shelter which sports another Coca Cola sign and an awesome antique gas pump!

None of this was visible the last time I passed by — probably was overgrown with weeds, which has been cleared — and the shed I originally photographed has been moved further away from the road (the fence in front of the shed in the above photo can be seen in the lower-left of the following photo). The resulting scene almost looks like the start of a small, rustic village. 😊

Less than a half-mile (800m) down the road is another tract of land with similar kitsch. I wonder if the two families are related, whether there was a desire to out-do the neighbors, or whether imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Most of the many outbuildings on this second property each sport a sign, plus there is an old frame saw, a derrick-style pump mechanism, a statue of a horse rearing back on two legs, a vintage gas pump on the porch of the house, two old metallic milk cans from a dairy farm, and many other items.