Five Faves: The San Jose Signs Project

Five Faves: The San Jose Signs Project

FULL ARTICLE By Heather M. David – As part of The San Jose Signs Project launch in May 2017, 25 San Jose signs were selected around which to build a one-day driving tour. Here are five of my favorites.
Getting to the Bottom of Ohio’s Mysterious Blue Hole

Getting to the Bottom of Ohio’s Mysterious Blue Hole

By Christine Rae Henry – The Blue Hole, touted as one of Ohio’s natural wonders, has always loomed large in my imagination. Located just east of the town of Castalia, only six miles south of the shore of Sandusky Bay on Lake Erie, the Blue Hole was a mixture of sublime beauty and roadside attraction for nearly 75 years.
Behind the Story: The Fountain of Youth

Behind the Story: The Fountain of Youth

FULL ARTICLE Historic preservation planner, Chris Berger, answers a few questions regarding his article in the Spring 2018 issue of the SCA Journal, “Fountain of Youth-Themed Cyclorama Awaits New Life in Florida”
Fountain of Youth-Themed Cyclorama Awaits New Life in Florida

Fountain of Youth-Themed Cyclorama Awaits New Life in Florida

By Chris Berger – It’s a clear spring morning at Warm Mineral Springs on Florida’s Gulf Coast and sweat is collecting at my hairline as I stand outside the shuttered Cyclorama, a windowless concrete block structure shaped like a giant tuna can.
Five Faves: Kentucky

Five Faves: Kentucky

By Mary Ann Buckner The first road in Kentucky was known as the “Wilderness Road,” aptly named since the area was largely unsettled country back in 1769. Inhabited by only about 70,000 settlers at the time, these woodsmen with rifles and axes made their way through the Cumberland Mountains to what is now known as the Commonwealth of Kentucky. For roadside fans, Kentucky doesn’t have a Route 66 or the gleaming silver diners of the Northeast. The state does, however, have plenty of backroads, where on any given day, a commercial archaeologist will undoubtedly see something worthy of a stop.
‘Happy Bear’ Signs

‘Happy Bear’ Signs

By Debra Jane Seltzer – The Bear Manufacturing Company was established in Rock Island, Illinois, in 1917 under the slogan “Let Bear Lug Your Luggage.” If the sign looks familiar to you, you’re probably a Deadhead.
SCA@40: <em>Editors Word:</em> Digging into Commercial Archeology’s Past

SCA@40: Editors Word: Digging into Commercial Archeology’s Past

FULL ARTICLE MOST OF US have unique stories about how we came to join the SCA. Mine involved an eagle, a birdie, and may have been the only membership linked to golf. At least the course, Valle Vista, was situated just off Route 66 outside of Kingman, Arizona. So that counts for something.
SCA@40: Dawn of a New Age

SCA@40: Dawn of a New Age

FULL ARTICLE By Keith A. Sculle – COMMERCIAL ARCHEOLOGY started from the efforts of a few people promoting the preservation of structures that were long ignored and discredited in mid-century America.
SCA@40: Origins

SCA@40: Origins

FULL ARTICLE By Arthur Krim Forty years ago, in November 1977, the first annual meeting of the Society for Commercial Archeology (SCA) took place at the Museum of Transportation in Boston, now the site of the Children’s Museum on the Fort Point Channel.