The sign maker’s craft is not a retro obsession. A drive today through almost any thriving Los Angeles commercial neighborhood east of Fairfax will reveal a vibrant living culture of handmade sign painting. From the auto-body shops of Pico Boulevard, to the storefronts of South Crenshaw, to the richly painted storefront bodegas and restaurants from East Beverly Boulevard to Downtown, the sign maker’s craft is thriving.
If I had known these signs on the Coney Island Boardwalk where going to disappear I would have taken better photos. I snapped this with a disposable film camera on a dreary winter morning in 1996. I was looking for an original New York egg-cream to cure a vicious hangover. I didn’t find an egg-cream, but, in the dull shadow of the ruins of the original Cyclone, I did find some good hand-painted signs. In recent years attempts have been made to revive the style of the original boardwalk signs, but too often the result is signs that are kitschy and self-consciously retro. This nice free-hand sign is not about capturing a style: it’s about selling sausage hero sandwiches.
I took this picture in 1995 along Highway 395 in the Owen’s Valley. This road runs north and south along the east side of the Sierra Nevada mountains. This is still one of my favorite roads in the United States. If I remember correctly, this sign was located somewhere near the town of Lone Pine. The letters where cut from 1/8″ doorskin and nailed to a plywood base. The construction was remarkably delicate considering the harshness of the climate. This sign disappeared to the elements sometime in the late 1990′s.
Monkeypete wishes he were on vacation in tropical Sayulita, Mexico. Instead he is working in Los Angeles on a gray day and feeling a bit gloomy. This morning I was feeding my escapist daydreams with photos from last year’s trip, and I came across these pics of some lovely hand painted signs. Sayulita has an exceptional sign painter, who’s lively and skillful work evokes the spirit of the great carnival sideshow banner painter Snap Wyatt. Next time I’m there I’ll track him down and do an interview. If you find yourself in Sayulita, be sure and have dinner at the Sayulita Cafe : the service is great, the margaritas are strong, and the molcajete is exceptional.
