Vintage sign hidden at Beachcorner inspires a new look for the Mid-City burger destination
Shown here in the 1950s, what was briefly called the Beachcomber Lounge, later the Beachcorner Lounge, is now the modern Beachcorner Bar & Grill. (Contributed photo from Gina Scala Perret)
From NOLA.com: The neon sign spelling out the name of the Beachcorner Bar & Grill (4905 Canal St., New Orleans, 504-488-7357) has long given a timeless look to this Canal Street tavern, known for big fat bar burgers and late-night food.
But it turns out there was something older underneath that neon that is now inspiring what the Beachcorner will look like in the future.
“I had no idea it was under there, we were so surprised,” said Beachcorner proprietor Gina Scala Perret.
Bartell Drugs name now gone from downtown Seattle
Workers take down sign of the last Bartell Drugs in downtown Seattle
From MYNorthwest.com: The final remaining Bartell Drugs location in downtown Seattle at 5th Avenue and Olive Way closed permanently on Thursday. Saturday morning, a crew from National Sign Company was busily removing signage and covering up the “BARTELL DRUGS” name on the exterior of the building; later, they planned to remove a neon sign from the interior wall above the pharmacy.
With the closure of this location, it’s believed the “BARTELL DRUGS” name is gone from the streets of downtown Seattle for the first time since 1890. The Bartell family sold the company to RiteAid in 2020.
Back from the brink – ‘iconic’ Saldean Lido celebrates its name up in lights
Saltdean Lido, Brighton, UK
From ITV.com: Saltdean Lido’s neon sign has be lit up for the first time since the Second World War – after it was taken down to avoid being spotted by German bombers.
The original was lost but, 84 years later, a reproduction version has been illuminated just in time for Christmas.
It’s the culmination of years of work, after the local community stepped in to save the iconic building, once on English Heritage’s ‘most at risk’ list.
Route 66 adding attractions in Springfield
You can get your kicks – if not a tank of gas – coming soon to one of Springfield’s Route 66 attractions. (Photo Courtesy of Rhys Martin via National Park Service)
From WJBC: SPRINGFIELD, IL – With the 100th anniversary of Route 66 coming in 2026, preparations are building. Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau director Scott Dahl has an update on a couple of Springfield attractions.
The recently installed Route 66 Experience at the Illinois State Fairgrounds, open year-round, has a new addition: a replica of the neon sign which stood outside the old A. Lincoln Motel next to the Cozy Dog Drive-In on South Sixth Street.
Shuttered for decades, a downtown theater in a rural Texas town is getting new life and new mission
The restored Wallace Theater sign is seen on Dec. 10, 2023 in Levelland. Courtesy of 13th Overtone Productions
From The Texas Tribune: LEVELLAND — The Wallace Theater has been a cornerstone for downtown Levelland since 1928 — almost as long as the small town on the South Plains has existed.
For more than 50 years, people used the theater as an escape from their daily lives, meet up with friends and watch the latest film.
The Wallace closed in the mid-1980s, unable to keep up with the new, bigger megaplex theaters in Lubbock and Amarillo. What was once a place full of buzz and excitement became a home for hundreds of pigeons instead. Even with new ownership in 2003, the theatre has been vacant.
After being closed for so long, the marquee will be lit and the curtain will rise at the Wallace with a new focus — bringing arts education to youth in a rural community where it’s hard to find.
Discover 19 Dreamy Diners in Rhode Island
The Modern Diner is a late-1930s and early 1940s Sterling Streamliner diner car. Photography by Wolf Matthewson
From Rhode Island Monthly: Little known fact: Rhode Island is the birthplace of the American diner.
It all started with Walter Scott and his horse-drawn lunch cart in 1872, which wobbled down Providence’s Westminster Street “laden with tasty sandwiches, boiled eggs, pies and coffee,” according to diner expert Richard J. S. Gutman, who spent decades researching the culinary phenomenon, ultimately writing the book American Diner: Then and Now.
“The problem was that nighthawks, late-night workers and carousers couldn’t get anything to eat anywhere in town after 8 p.m. when restaurants closed for the evening,” Gutman wrote in his book. “At the age of eleven, Walter sold newspapers, fruit and homemade candy on the street to support his family.” It turned out, Scott made a career out of feeding hungry workers at three newspapers between editions with a late-night wagon parked in front of the Providence Journal. “He is the person who is credited with the first lunch wagon that was the precursor to the diner,” Gutman says. “He had started as a peddler with a basket of food, then a pushcart, then he needed more food, so he got a horse and hooked it up to a modified freight wagon, and that’s how it all started.”