Giant Pin Ups on the Road ! Vintage Handpainted Billboard Signs of the Past

There is no real evidence that billboards are effective in generating profit, but they do aid in brand recognition.  Signs offering a "petting zoo" and clean bathrooms probably worked during the glory days of road travel, but today it is mostly the big yellow hamburger sign drawing in customers.  The concept of sex in advertising also comes to play here.  That we KNOW is effective. There is no way to measure how many riders have been killed by the wandering eyes of the driver in these snaps. The photographer stood close enough to the signs to eliminate any skid marks on the ground.

Lady Bird Johnson tried to eliminate billboards during the Johnson administration.  To preserve beauty, not the money in your pocket.  Some countries have outlawed them for safety, but texting while driving is far more dangerous now.  

I would have looked at these while passing, but I don't think I would have gotten off to buy tires.

Vintage (1940?) Pin-up Billboard Snapshot photographs.  Thanks to CURLEY'S ANTIQUES.

Vintage Folk Art Valvoline Hand-Painted Sign Easy Flow Oil c. 1950 Petroliana

Original vintage Folk Art Valvoline Hand-Painted Sign Easy Flow Oil c. 1950.  I heard that Frank Fritz and the American Pickers are coming to Michigan.  Got this JUST IN TIME!  Pretty unusual to find a painted by hand petroliana sign, and whoever made it designed his own logo!  He even remembered to paint the V upside down when letting the oil out. 

Antique Folk Art Valvoline Hand-Painted Sign Easy Flow Oil c. 1950 Collection Jim Linderman

Painted by Hand Carnival Sign with Innuendo old folk art sign

Folk Art  carnival ride warning sign circa 1940 Collection Jim Linderman

Hand Painted Folk Art Sign Watermelons

Hand Painted Folk Art Sign Melons
Collection Jim Linderman

Old Folk Art Hand Painted Wooden Signs Antique Collection Jim Linderman

A Pair of early 20th C. (circa 1920) painted by hand folk art signs advertising F. E. Slater's store.  The signs were preserved by being used as shelves in a cupboard for nearly 100 years.  Four pieces, total size of the two signs is 42" x 24". They were likely topped with "distance indicators"  before being placed near the road.
Western Michigan origin.  Collection Jim Linderman

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Policeman Orders to STOP HERE FOR HOT NUTS Folk Art Standing Figure

Stop here for Hot Nuts  Real Photo Postcard circa 1950 Collection Jim Linderman

Antique Folk Art Fish Sign from Punta Gorda, Florida

Lots of folk art fish signs are fake.  I have no idea why, but I guess unscrupulous antique dealers like to "reel in" a "big catch" at some of those high-priced shows.  How to tell if your tin sign is real?  Uneven rust throughout...more on one side than the other. Imagine a piece of tin hanging in the elements and consider what would happen to it over the years.  Reddish rust all over is often a sign of a chemical bath done at the fake folk art store.  The same applies to weathervanes and such.  It should look weathered. 

Punta Gorda, which has weathered a few hurricanes, is HERE on Wiki, and the official website of the town is HERE

Tin Fish Sign from Punta Gorda, Florida.  40 inches long.  Old.  Collection Jim Linderman
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OH MIN! Hand Painted Folk Art Sign Oh Min ?

The seller and I at an outdoor antique show debated over the meaning of this hand-painted sign. A bad OMEN? A preacher exclaiming AMEN? It cost ten bucks and I bought it just to figure it out, which is usually the case with objects I post here.
 
It turns out OH MIN was the exclamation cartoon character Andy Gump used when complaining to his wife Minerva. The Marriott? I have no idea. Family name for this sign which may have identified a residence? Along the beaches in Michigan, it is not unusual for families to hang goofy signs in the woods to help folks find the place. That's my guess. 

"Oh Min" Hand-painted sign. Circa 1930. Collection Jim Linderman 

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Under Canvas and Coming The Lewis Stock Company

I don't know if the lovely ladies posing here are part of the Lewis Stock company, but they are coming to town.

Original Snapshot, circa 1920? Collection Jim Linderman

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Roly - Poly Carnival Sideshow Sign and Tommy Duncan Throttles Bob Wills

I never did find out what sideshow game Roly-Poly was, but if they really did award a prize to every player you can be sure it was from under the counter, not from the wall display in back.

I will, however, take the slightest excuse to share Bob Wills, especially when it is a number performed by the great Tommy Duncan. Tommy was smooth as the expensive whiskey Bob was able to drink to excess every day, but what made the pair work so well was the suppressed, seething tension in Tommy's voice every time the lovable drunk buffoon stepped on his lines with a patented "Aaah Haah" aside. You can tell Tommy wanted to throttle Bob, the biggest country ham in the state of Texas, but it was a good gig.

He finally left...and as the clip below shows, he should have stayed. Still, you have to see a real roly poly play the Bob Wills part. Gnaw on a biscuit.

Roly-Poly Carnival Sideshow Sign. Circa 1930 Collection Jim Linderman

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Duffy's Pool Hall Real Photo Postcard collection Jim Linderman

Duffy's Pool Hall Azo back Real Photo Postcard circa 1920? Collection Jim Linderman

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What U Do Folk Art Sign (PICK) Collection Jim Linderman

Tin Strawberry Sign circa 1950 Collection Jim Linderman

Dull Tool Dim Bulb BOOKSTORE

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The Early Gigantic Upskirt Silver Foam Soap and the Clean Billboard

Silver Foam Granulated Soap seems to have "left the (grocery) building" and joined the league of dead brands, but it certainly wasn't for a lack of taste. As you can see, their logo featured a hard working scrub woman with giant cheeks. She is working up a lather to match Lawrence Welk's bubble machine!

So falling under the category of "World's Earliest "Upskirt" photo (if you don't know what that is, check your son's phone camera) I have posted this on the Vintage Sleaze blog as well. But how many upskirt photos do you know with a robot featured in the middle of the desert with her gigantic glutes facing the traffic?

In case you think me demented for describing this logo as a stealthy and secretive photo technique, I am certainly not the only one. Note the "fine print" on the billboard. "Danger Electric Fence" and a "Reward $25.00" sign. Obviously, it was something to leave your car and peer up at...but for some fellas it got out of hand and they spoiled it for all by climbing up to grab a closer look. That there was electricity leads me to believe our washerwoman was an automotan, but I can't tell for sure. Make that "automowasherwomanotan."

Like when little Theodore Cleaver climbed up to see what was in the giant coffee cup, I don't think there was anything up there...but it would be worth a peek to make sure.


Original snapshot, circa 1945 Collection Jim Linderman