Roadside Signs

If you have seen the restaurant and motel pages, you have already seen many raodside signs. This page shows them closer up, in all their glory. Space Age Design is bright, angular and attention grabbing. These giant signs were all that to an extreme. They had one major purpose and that was to draw the motorist off the road. Roadside signage, has never been as glaring, tantalizing and attention grabbing before or since. The majority of the best signs were for motels, followed by restaurants. However, many were also done for shopping centers, bowling alleys, cleaners and many other retail establishments.

Also of interest are the billboards of the era. They also often used futuristic design.

The ultimate road sign is also the first done on a grand scale. In 1948, Holiday Inn founder Kemmons Wilson commission Eddie Bluestein to design a sign of a scale and with graphics not seen before. This Las Vegas style sign became the classic Holiday Inn sign. It ushered in a twenty year era of massive futuristic, and often quirky signs that dominated the roads they were on.

Other motels were forced to ditch their old wooden signs to keep up with their own great signs. These huge signs had neon, porcelain faces, and often flashing bulbs. They were usually many different signs combined together in a futuristic display. The large, bright, futuristic roadside sign was intoxicating to families after hours on the road. It especially mesmerized kids. By the 1970s, many of the areas with the motels were starting to decay, and neon began to be associated with seedy. The supply of neon makers dwindled and the signs were often taken down when the neon no longer worked. Most of the great roadside signs are no longer. Those that have survived are local icons but can be difficult to maintain. A few can be found in the American Sign Museum in Cincinnati and the Neon Museum in Las Vegas.

Most of the images in this website are from my collection. However, since few roadside signs almost no billboards of the era survive, and I do not have room to own any, the majority of the images on this page are not mine. I felt I could not put out this website without these images. The postcards are from my collection.

Holiday Lodge Motel at 1631 W 3rd St, Los Angeles, CA. Still open.

Yuma Cabana Motel, 2151 S. 4th, Yuma, AZ. Still open.

Four Seasons Motel, 1701 Wisconsin Dells Parkway, Wisconsin Dells, WI. Still open.

Hawaiian Village Motel, 2522 N. Dale Mabry, Tampa, FL. Closed.

Billboard for Calumet & Laurium, Michigan. Futuristic design even came to remote areas such as this one way on the top of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Postcard.

Classic Arizona welcome billboard. This postcard is date stamped 1958.

Meridian Mississippi welcome sign. The centennial would be 1960 when population was at its peak of 49,374. Today the population is under 40,000. Postcard.

Neosho Missouri welcome sign. The name "Flower Box City" was dubbed in 1957. Postcard.

Sky-Lit Motel, 2120 S. Ashland, Greenbay, WI. Still open.

Lollipop Motel, 2301 Atlantic Ave., N. Wildwood, NJ.

Long Holiday Motel, 1198 US 50 Frontage, Gunnison, CO. Still open. Faded brilliance. This sign has since been toned down.

Oasis Motel, 9303 E. 11th, Tulsa, OK. Still open.

Chips was a chain of coffee shops in California. This one was in Hawthorn. Classic Googie building with sign built in. Closed, building was still standing in 2006.

Scotty's 560 Northgate Mile, Idaho Falls, ID. Drive in restaurant that is still open. Flying saucers on top.

Metropolitan Car Wash, L.A. area. Now closed. Lot of work for a car wash but L.A. was Googie central.

Lost Dutchman Motel, 560 S. County Club Dr., Mesa, AZ. Very busy sign and everything is a different shape. Destroyed in 2011.

Shopping centers were a big source of these signs. This one in San Jose, CA. was in fact previously a Futurama Bowl.

The Scotchman Motor Restaurant, 4960 Federal Blvd., Denver, Co. Famous for its Horrible Burgers, Kilted Tacos, Hollywood Cokes and Sloppy Malts. Open from 1949 to 1977 and quite the hangout.

Brunswick Covina Bowl at1060 W San Bernardino Rd, Covina, CA. Built in 1955, architects Pat Derosa & Austin Daly. Recently closed.

Jack's Hamburgers was at 603 W 13th St. N, Wichita, KS. Recently reopened without this sign.

Sparkle Cleaners at 225 E Walnut St, Ogelsby, IL. Still open.

Town House Motel at 744 Washington Way, Longview, WA. still open.

Motel Yreka at 336 North Main Street, Yreka, CA. This building has served as a motel and trailer park for many years, in addition it also served dual purpose as a bus station for Trailways in the 1960's or 1970s. Now closed.

Flamingo Hotel at 1300 N Stone Ave, Tucson, AZ, still open, now called Quality Inn Flamingo.

Corbin Bowl at 19616 Ventura Blvd, Tarzana, CA. Still open.

Pink Motel still open at 9457 San Fernando Road, Sun Valley, CA. Opened in 1949. Often used as a film location.

San Gabriel Lanes on San Gabriel Blvd., San Gabriel, CA, built before 1961.

Planet Bowl at 6601 Tinker Diagonal, Oklahoma City, OK. Still open.

Blue Springs Bowl at 1225 US-40, Blue Springs, MO. Still open.

Hollywood Downtowner Motel at 5601 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA. Still open.

Varkey's Cleaners at 690 Church St, Whitinsville, MA. Still open. Simple but effective.

Cedar Lawn Motel at Highways 3 & 218 in Waverly, IA. Closed. Postcard.

Sign to Jekyll Island off Georgia. Postcard.

Sign at the summit of Pikes Peak, Colorado at 14,110 feet. Postcard.

Billboard advertising the opening of Citrus Tower in 1956 on US Hwy 27 in Clermont, FL. Postcard.

Armitage Hotel Court billboard. The hotel was at 1888 King West Route 1 in Sherbrooke, Quebec. Postcard.

6th Ave Motel 2221 SW 6th Ave, Portland, OR. Still open.

Duellman's Motel at 640 Ogden Ave, Downers Grove, IL. Notice the difference to the modern sign at bottom. Closed around 2012.

Roberts Oldsmobile at 2323 Auburn Way N, Auburn, WA. Still open, sign still there despite Oldsmobile now gone.

Sandy's Motel at 1675 E Pershing Rd, Decatur, IL. Still open.

Satellite sign found at the American Sign Museum in Cincinnati. Worth a visit. Sign originally from Anaheim. https://www.americansignmuseum.org/

The Gourmet Dinner House at 1445 E. Highland Ave., San Bernardino CA. Closed, but sign still there.

Dom & Petes Point View Bar was in Gary, IN. A good example of a faded sign. The business was long gone when this picture was taken in 2006.

Southgate Shopping Center. When it opened in 1957, Lakeland's Southgate Shopping Center at 2515 S. Florida Ave. was a modern marvel, pioneering the new shopping center concept.

Big Star Motel 2325 S G St, Fresno, CA. Still open. These faded futuristic signs have an earie look.

The Pitcairn Motel at 11751 Harbor Blvd., in Anaheim, CA., near Disneyland. Demolished in 1998.

Skyliner Motel at 717 W. Main St. in Stroud, OK. Still open. On Route 66.

The Pitcairn sign is a great example of a sign in the image of its name. The Pitcain Islands are the South Pacific islands the HMS Bounty mutineers lived on. The sign shows both the boat and a south pacific island reference.

Sundowner Motel was in Salton City, CA. It burned down in 1998. This sign is very Sci-Fi weird.

Palm Aire Motel at 3250 34th St N, St. Petersburg, FL. Still open.

Moon Motel at 4650 U.S. 9, Howell, NJ. Still open.

Sun-n-Sand Motel at1708 S Byron Butler Pkwy Perry, FL. Converted into a strip mall. The second image is the same sign stripped of its midcentury character. It doesn't quite work.

Tucson Inn at 127 W Drachman St Tucson, AZ. On this one, the sign is part of the building. Recently closed and sold to a college who has kept the building and sign.

Sigel's Liquor at 15003 Inwood Rd, Addison, TX. Great job working the bubbles from the beer into the sign. Still open.

Goody's Diner at 865 E. Las Tunas, San Gabriel, CA. Goody's was a small chain. Recently closed.

Vince's Spagheti Restaurant at 8241 E Foothill Blvd, Rancho Cucamonga, CA. While still open, the sign has sadly been replaced by something more generic.

Sun-n-Sand Motor Hotel on Lamar Street in Jackson, MS. Closed in 2001. Used by many State Legislators for years.

Elm Road Drive-In Theatre at 1895 Elm Rd NE, Warren, OH. Still open. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Farmers Restaurant at 115 S La Brea, Inglewood, CA. Designed by legendary California architect Martin Stern. Built in 1957 as a Sheri's Diner. Excellent example of Googie architecture. Now a Cafetales.

This is actually a postcard ad for Plexiglas usage in signs. Plexiglas was a plastic by Rohm & Haas of Philadelphia. I hope someone used this design as it is classic. Postcard

Al's Ckickenette at 700 Vine St, Hays, KS. Opened in 1949, still going strong.

Donutland at 4307 Center Point Rd NE, Cedar Rapids, IA. Built in 1962, now closed at this location and sign is gone.

The classic Las Vegas welcome sign. Built in 1959 and erected soon after by Western Neon. The sign was designed by Betty Willis. It is 25 feet tall. On December 6, 2013, the State Historic Preservation Office for Nevada announced the sign had been added to the State Register of Historic Places.

Napa Valley welcome sign. Another classic, though not really Space Age. This image dates to 1968, so a little later, but worth showing. Postcard.

Brookside Motel at Routes 1 & 3 in Elsworth, ME. No longer open. Angles, stars, and neon. Postcard.

Munger Moss Motel on "Hiway" 66 in Lebanon, MO. Worth it for the name and sign alone. Still operating with little change to the sign. Postcard.

Sign for Silver Springs Florida. This is a State park with an artesian springs. Postcard.

Rest Haven Court at 2000 East Kearney in Springfield, MO. Still operating, sign stil there. Postcard

Seahorse Motel on Highway 1 in Marathon, FL. Private beach. Closed. Postcard.

Sahara Motel at 845 S. Stanton Ave. in Anaheim, CA. Two miles from Disney. Still open, sign different colors. Postcard.

Milan Plaza Court on US Highways 45E, 70A and 79 in Milan, TN. Closed, may now be a Budget Inn. Postcard

Motel Bien Venido (You are welcome) located at highways 67 & 90 east side of Alpine, TX. Restaurant included. Stilll open but sign reduced. Postcard.

Avalon Motel, on U.S 1 and Junction C-1 in Saugus, MA. Near Logan Airport. Still open but sign has changed. Postcard.

Cliffside Motel and Restaurant, Harpers Ferry, WV. Closed in 2017 or 2018. Postcard.

Conoco Motel, Cafe & Service Station, 2107 W 2nd St., (U.S. 30/Lincoln Hwy), Grand Island, NE. Still open, sign gone. Postcard.

The Chief Diner, 2127 Main Ave., Durango, CO. Interior handpainted by a "colored" artist. Closed. Postcard.

Draney's Motel, 420 E 100 N, St. George, UT. Closed. Postcard.

40 Motel, 3705 W Broad St. (Route 40), Columbus, OH. West city limits. Sign still there, the blue is now green. Postcard.

Inn of Lenoir Motor Lodge at Route 1 & Highway 95, Lenoir City, TN. Just built off the new highway. Sign now modified, not as good. Postcard.

Pagoda Restaurant. 4971 S. Peoria, Tulsa, OK. Original handcarved Buddhist shrine on display. Classic sign. Closed. Postcard.

Christian's Drive In Restaurant, Highways 290, 285 & 67 West Fort Stockton, TX. Closed. Postcard.

XIT Ranch Motel (Best Western), 209 Liberal St., Delhart, TX. Three blocks from downtown. Still open but with a different period sign. Postcard.

Pete's Texaco Super Service & Truck Stop, 2405 E 10th St., Sioux Falls, SD. Just off I-229. Now a casino. Postcard.

Jake's Snack Shop, 5201 W Touhy, Ave., Skokie, IL. Torn down. Starbucks there now. Postcard.

Cadillac Motel and Fireplace Restaurant. Two miles north of Florence, SC on US highways 301 & 76. Closed. Postcard postmarked 1963.

Tupper Lake Motel, 259 Park St., Tupper Lake, NY. Still open. Sign still there but significantly altered and no longer of interest.

The Desert Sky Hotel, 3541 E Van Buren, Phoenix, AZ. A desert classic sign! Opened in 1961 and quite large. Now closed. Postcard.

Flamingo Hotel, 4th & 24th in Yuma, AZ. Long gone. Had a cafe and cocktail lounge. Postcard.

Rep's Motel, 3876 N. Blackstone Ave., Fresno, CA. 45 units. Restaurant and cocktail lounge. Now a Travel Lodge, sign gone. Postcard.

El Dorado Motel, 8384 Market St., Youngstown, OH. Closed. Postcard.

Cumberland Motel, Clarksville, TN. Us Highways 41A and 79, 2 miles west of Clarksville. Closed. Postcard.

Town 'N Country restaurant, 2014 W 12th Sioux Falls, SD. Torn down, bank there now. Postcard.

Mollinesian Motel (Best Western), 650 N Mollison Ave., El Cajon, CA. Now a Quality Inn, sign gone. Postcard.

Town House Motel, 2231 99 E, Chico, CA. Best Western. Still open but sign is gone. Postcard.

Motel Capri, 2369 G St. (US Hwy 99) Fresno, CA. Closed and sign gone. Postcard.