Today’s post comes courtesy of Scott Hughes. Scott was kind enough to pass on this photo he took of the old Eastown sign at Lauzon & Tecumseh before it was altered.
As you can see, other than the steel uprights, and the name, not much remains the same. Interesting to note however, that much like the bridge, it started out black, and ended up teal…
Thanks again for sending the photo Scott.
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That sign was a staple of my 90’s childhood. My grandfather always hung out at the little cafeteria inside N&D and the place had to be one of the last that still used paper bags… My mom always used to take me to the LCBO to visit the rubber ducks floating in the wine cooling water as well. K-Mart before Zellers – good memories all round!
There must have been a sale on teal green paint. Black is too harsh for people these days. Everything must be soft and squishy. I remember when there was nothing across the road from there. Is the old farmer’s silo still standing near Wendy’s?
The old silo is still there, it’s a Scotiabank sign now. I grew up across the street where the Home Depot is now. I managed to get into the lot to take a picture of our old cherry tree before it came down for a parking lot. That was back when Dirty Jersey’s was a Ponderosa. I remember the sign well, my parents used to walk there for groceries with us in tow.
Teal paint is cheaper than everything else – it’s what you get when you mix the leftovers from all the other colours together.
Hey, at least they re-used the sign for the most part, instead of just tossing it and starting over. I think architects think black is too severe or stark. It was pretty common in the 50s and 60s to have black trim, even into the 70s. They were going for the high contrast I think. Then the earth tones took over. Teal is a little out of date to me, but it looks fine. Could be much worse I guess. I still like the old tripod towers of the Oakland Mall, Livonia Mall, etc. Those signs were landmarks in their own right.
And it wouldn’t be a Windsor picture without a Neon in it…
Nice. From my poor (for-now) stalled blog, some pictures and thoughts about Easttown when the giant E layed on the ground in 2005.
http://www.psychogeography.ca/blog/archives/00000031.htm
Also note, this parking lot served as an informal used car lot. People would park their car along the edge – I think that explains the two old-looking cars by the sign – and wait for somebody to call them.
Notice the front of the Tecumseh Mall Zellers–still the basic Kmart colors–so this photo mustve been taken right after the conversion (mid 1990s?)
Back then you could get a case of beer, a bottle of whiskey, get some groceries and some pizza, and after you drink too much of the alcohol and puke on your shirt, you can take it to the cleaners — all in one location, Eastown. Now THATS convenience.
@Chris: I remember the rubber duckies too! And Tecumseh Mall had only a few stores in one corridor. I also remember the cafeteria at the Wolco, which later became a Wal-Mart – they had the best hot turkey sandwiches!
The only thing that is still the same is The Beer Store, just a little updated.
i never considered that silo as being authentic! that’s actually pretty neat to me considering most things like this for example would be wiped right out for a shopping center in most cities.
does anyone know what it’s used for now? is there anything in the old newspapers that have a pic of the farmhouse while announcing it’s demise for the plaza?
neat
anyone notice the girl who’s squeegee’ing the bus stop? who’s squeegies a public bus shelter wearing sandals? ick. i can’t tell if she’s contracted out or if dirty glass is just a pet peeve of hers. i do applaude her however, as i’ve never seen anyone do that in this city!
Yeah I always wondered about that Silo too. I seem to remember its general location but haven’t been able to spot it recently. I do remember all that land being farmers fields up until not too long before the mega retail redevelopment of that side of Tecumseh road. Does anyone know if it’s still back there somewhere??
it is John. just go up to the streetview of the easttown sign (or on google itself) and head west to harvey’s, it’s right behind it on the road that separates the “zerhs” and chinese buffet or whatever that is. white with a red top.
Glad to contribute Andrew – I have many sign photos taken in Windsor from over the years. And yes, if I recall, this was shot in the early 1990’s.
I noticed while driving by the cornewr of tecumseh and lauzon and noticed that the old Walmart that has been converted to a strip mall is called EASTOWN the same as the old N&D store