Each evening after work I work on the workshop a little bit. Last night’s project involved hanging some of the metal signs I’ve collected over the years.
While many people adorn their buildings with signs from old gas stations and businesses, most of mine are old road signs. Some of them were purchased legally. Some of them came from abandoned buildings. Most of them were originally, uh, city property. The only sign I was ever questioned about was my “bridge out” sign (I didn’t acquire it until the bridge had been repaired). At least one sign was the result of a heist so brazen that thirty years later I’m still not at liberty to share the details. Any guilt associated with obtaining or owning any of these signs is long gone. I got most of them thirtyish years ago.
The first three signs I hung up were a Taco Mayo sign, a No Trespassing sign, and a Do Not Enter sign. I bought the Taco Mayo sign off of eBay from a fellow who obtained it when the Muskogee location closed. The No Trespassing sign came from (I believe) Crooked Oak High School, after it closed. I don’t remember where I got the Do Not Enter sign from, but I don’t feel bad for taking it or owning it. Don’t tell me where I can and cannot enter, metal sign!
I found this McDonald’s interstate exit sign for sale at a local antique mall, and put it on my Christmas list a few years ago. My dad purchased it for me, and I’ve felt bad that I’ve had it sitting in the garage for almost three years before finally getting to display it. It’s bigger than it looks at 2 1/2′ tall by 3 1/2′ wide. It makes me smile every time I see it, which is why I hung it right in front of my workbench.
And finally, there’s the big letter R. Several years ago while driving through Arkansas, Susan and I stumbled upon a billboard graveyard with dozens of billboards, restaurant signs, and store front lettering all thrown in a large pile. The R came from a Red Lobster sign. If we had been in my truck, I would have come home with more letters than Santa’s mail bag.
I have a few more signs to hang up along with some posters and other odds and ends as I slowly turn my workshop into my workshop.
I used to have a “No Standing here to corner” sign that amused me greatly when it hung in my bedroom. Alas it was stolen and I never got around to getting another one.
I got one of the “Holly” street signs from Yukon a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG time ago… I lost it in a fire when I was up in St. Joe Missouri…. I wish I had another one… alas, I don’t see that happening any time soon… my sign thievery days have long since passed away….