I was out one morning a while back when this sign caught my eye in the early morning sunlight.
At one time all of our main street businesses had big signs like this one. Slowly but surely they’ve almost all dissapeard from the landscape.
Personally I like seeing the old signs, it’s one of the first things to catch my eye in old photographs.
What’s your take? Know of any cool ones around town?
Also worth noting, Glatter’s is a long time business, they’ve been around since the late 1920’s.
I like the example you have up today. I was always a fan of the Firestone sign at Ouelette and Giles. It had been looking pretty shbby for a few years and now it’s gone.
shurley?
Lazare’s Fur’s on Maiden Lane.
Cheetah’s (formerly Epp’s)
Come to think of it there just aren’t many left….
Chris, it’s fixed.
And don’t call me Shirley!
Epp’s was great. As a kid I took it for granted but was cool. The Neon deco on Lazares is brilliiant.
I lived on Tourangeau Rd. just off Tecumseh (60’s / 70’s), but have not lived in the city since 1980… I have been reading your blog for about 3 month now. Wonderful piece of work Andrew! Today’s topic “Old Signs†stirred the memory of that huge neon sign that ran the full length of the Golden Mile Bowling Alley at George and Tecumseh (long gone). It was a massive piece of neon animation depicting a bowler tossing a strike complete with crashing pins. I would guess the sign went up in the 50’s and by the 60’s it was prone to long periods of disrepair, on the rare occasions when every light and sequence was working properly, it was a spectacle. Does anyone have pictures or more information about this sign?
surely you jest!
the south windsor plaza where the AnP was
You mean where N&D was, as in Yorktown Plaza?
Just a heads up (although late). The Church on Dominion and Grand Marais has started to be torn down. I stopped and took some pictures yesterday of the living quarters (I think) being taken down. This morning when I drove by the doors at the front were removed and it looks like they were gutting the rest of the church. If it’s not down tonight, I think the building-eaters will be all over it in the morning.
Do we know what’s going in there? Is it a Rexall?
Thanks for the update Blair. I was downtown today, and I noticed the fencing is surrounding the Patrick O’Ryans/Royal Bank/Manning House complex with a building eater parked in the lot beside POR. I imagne that the date for that one is coming soon too..
Back to the subject of signs – does anyone remember the old Tunnel Bar-B-Que neon sign? It depicted a cleaver wielding chef chasing a chicken and a pig with very concerned expressions on their faces. The tubes would flicker on and off, giving an illusion of movement. One of my all time favorites anywhere. Which brings to mind the Geo H Wilkinson sign painted large on the south side of their building on Ouellette. A downtown landmark for many years – into the late 60s, maybe very early 70s – it featured the portrait of a rather dandified porker boasting the virtue of their footwear “Wilkinson shoes wear like a pig’s nose “. They also had a large vertical metal and neon sign hanging out front with a clock! Analog!!! I’d love to see some pics of these lost artifacts.
I believe that there is still a great old sign on the Hai Ho on Wyandotte E.
As a kid I remember viisting Detroit and seeing the the old “Canadian Club” sign on top of the white Hiram Walker silo’s…too bad they never replaced the sign.
Well about the Beach Bar & Grille downtown… that place has a old style sign with a Modern Look….
The Shanfields-Meyers Jewellery Shop sign is a classic but in need of some TLC. Maybe we can, as a community, look at restoring this sign as a sign of our gratitude to the Shanfields. This could become a very positive media event highlighting the importance of preserving our city’s history, supporting local businesses, and improving the downtown (facade debate). I’m up for that, where do I send my donation?
The Yorktown Plaza is one of the last great modern signs in town.It has all the bells and whistles of it’s era. I got to take a good look at it one night this summer. It is the Cadilac of signs.I understand it has been declaired a landmark. When I kid we used to go to the Bella Vista Inn resort in Caseville Mich. They has an awsome neon sign in front of the hotel. At night I would go up onto the sun deck on the and gaze at the glowing neon against the black night sky.
Does anyone know when and why the “Shop, Save and Play” sign (or whatever it said) was removed from downtown Windsor?
Ive always had intersts in signs i guess thats why i opened my sign shop back in 1989 and we’ve been going ever since. Ive seen alot of these old signs come down because of structure failure (rotting) or just change of ownership. I try and keep old signs in tact and re vamp them when i can & fix what needs to be fixed and keep them going. if you have a business and are looking for something unique like these give me a call, I can probably help but do remember …that they are alot more than the traditional box signs you”ve been seeing around for the last 20 years or so theres a lot of fabricating involved in them and this does mean cost but the beauty is above all regular stuff 519 252 3339 Terry @ AMAZING SIGNS….WERE IN WINDSOR