W.Va. Artisan Has Been Making Neon Signs By Hand For Five Decades

Inside the neon sign workshop of James Day. EMILY HILLIARD/ WV FOLKLIFE PROGRAM

Just listen to the music of the traffic in the city

Linger on the sidewalk where the neon signs are pretty

Day Sign Company, nestled on a quiet side street in the small town of St. Albans, West Virginia, seems a far cry from all of that.

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Larger Than Life: 4 Paul Bunyan Statues Built to Amaze

From the National Trust for Historic Preservation: Before he became a literal and figurative giant of American folklore, Paul Bunyan existed only in the stories shared between 19th-century lumberjacks in northern states such as Michigan and Minnesota. Over evening campfires, they gave life to a heroic, seven-foot-tall lumberman and his equally imposing blue ox, who together could clear 100 million feet of pine from a 40-acre patch of land. Perhaps a real Bunyan once existed and the legend grew around him, or perhaps he was a complete fabrication. Either way, Paul became an emblem of the logging industry.

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This Drive-In Theater Was Dying Until a $100,000 High-Tech Bet Turned Its Fortunes Around

CREDIT: Courtesy Company

From Inc: The Boulevard has survived despite regular flooding from an adjacent creek, with waters so high they once submerged the snack bar. Competing entertainments, starting with television, eroded ticket sales while film distributors raised their prices. The nadir arrived in 1996 when, for the first time, the Boulevard lost money: $6,000. “I think we would not have been here except for Swap ‘n’ Shop,” says Neal, referring to the flea market he launched on the theater’s grounds in 1975.

But while the industry continues to languish (fewer than 350 drive-in theaters remain around the country), the 10-employee Boulevard is once more packing them in.

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The Classic Old-School U.S. Amusement Parks Your Family Shouldn’t Miss

From Forbes: Today, amusement parks are often associated with looping thrill rides that push speed and other limits. Yet there are those old-school amusement parks in the U.S. that stay true to their roots. Even if many do stay current with modern thrill rides, these unique parks aren’t scrapping that 1915 carousel or old wooden floor roller rink anytime soon.

Here are seven classic American amusement parks with enduring appeal

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It Wouldn’t Be an American Road Trip Without Roadside Chapels

From the Daily Beast: Roadside attractions can be more than the Ventriloquist Museum in Kentucky—which is not creepy at all, of course—or Lenny, the Chocolate Moose in Maine. They may include these brief spiritual retreats from a burgeoning road rage.

When I was a kid, our family road trips frequently included being away on Sundays. My father, who is a pastor, would sometimes find a church for us to visit when we were away.

Likewise, for many religious Americans, traveling may be a chance to “get away from it all,” but for those God-fearing Christians, there is no fleeing an all-seeing deity. As the psalmist says, “If I ascend to heaven, you are there, if I make my bed in Sheol, behold, you are there” (Psalm 139:8)—and on American roads, the writer might as well add “if I ascend the heights of Glacier National Park or drive eternally through Montana,” you are there too.

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