Virtual tour of SF neon signs as good as walk down Bush St.
The SF Neon TenderNob tour showcased the elegant Ha-Ra sign, with a signature martini. Courtesy SF Neon/Tenderloin Museum
From the San Francisco Examiner: Though the pandemic has stopped historians Al Barna and Randall Ann Homan from leading one of their popular walking tours of neon signs, the pair’s Thursday evening virtual presentation about San Francisco’s TenderNob was as illuminating for guests who might well have been strolling down Bush Street.
In the first of four free, hour-long online events co-sponsored by the Tenderloin Museum and SF Neon, the photographers and authors of “Saving Neon” and “San Francisco Neon: Survivors and Lost Icons” showed pictures of elegant and fun bar signs, corner store signs, garage signs and more in the Tenderloin and nearby Nob Hill – some no longer existing or operating.
A Pristine Mosaic Floor From a Roman Villa Is Uncovered in Italy
The newly discovered mosaic in situ via Comune di Negrar di Valpolicella
From Hyperallergic: As the saying goes, still waters run deep, but a recent discovery made in Negrar, a small township in northern Italy, proved that tiles run still deeper. After decades of thwarted attempts, archaeologists successfully uncovered a beautifully tiled mosaic floor, pristine evidence of an ancient Roman villa that was discovered by scholars more than a century ago.
Owner Vows To Rebuild After Historic Central Camera Goes Up In Flames
From CBS2: CHICAGO (CBS) — Central Camera, a Chicago institution with an iconic neon sign and a photographer’s every need since 1899, went up in flames Saturday night as unrest erupted in downtown Chicago in the wake of the George Floyd death in Minneapolis.
The store at 332 S. Wabash Ave. has been in business since 1899. CBS 2’s Charlie De Mar said it was looted and set ablaze, and appeared to be a total loss.
Fire trucks near the scene were also looted.
De Mar talked with Don Flesch, the third-generation owner of the store, who was philosophical about the loss.
Re-energizing Route 66 in Tulsa – Mary Beth Babcock
From Tulsa People: Welcome to Tulsa Talks presented by Tulsa Regional Chamber. I’m your host Tim Landes.
My guest on this episode is Mary Beth Babcock of Buck Atom’s Cosmic Curious on 66. It’s a quirky, fun little retail operation based out of an old 1950s gas station on 11th near Peoria. You’ve maybe seen Buck Atom. He’s hard to miss. Buck is a space cowboy and a big fan of Route 66. He’s also a big statue based on the classic muffler man model. Nearby is a brand new neon sign that is part of a going trend to bring neon back to the Mother Road.
Burma-Shave Revisited: New Sign Installation
From the American Sign Museum Newsletter: In honor of the classic Burma Shave ad campaign, the museum recently installed its own sign verse to point the way to the museum’s entrance. Founder Tod Swormstedt played poet, writing the verse: “Just 100 Yards More / You’re Almost There / It’s Worth the Wait / For the Photos You’ll Share,” ending with “American Sign Museum ” and accompanying arrow on the fifth and final panel.
Each panel was lettered in the traditional white on a red background and in the historically accurate “Burma Shave font,” thanks to David Butler, David Butler Design, Syracuse, IN. Butler, incidentally, also designed the museum logo, not to mention coordinated with his wife, Suze, the crew that created the faux signage for the museum’s “Signs on Main Street” storefronts. The museum’s go-to fabricator, Tim Gorman, engineered and installed the series of five signs. Thanks Tim!
The recently installed modern adaptation compliments the original set of circa 1940 Burma Shave signs that hang in the museum, together with the two prototype Burma Shave panels that were discarded and became floorboards in the attic of Burma Shave founder Clinton Odell’s Minneapolis home.