Animated Neon Sign

Yesterday's post of the bar mural got me to thinking about signage, and I have to share one of my all-time favorites. This sign in Memphis, TN is nominated in the category of animated neon signage, and features the walking man's busy legs, the whirling blades and flying grass clippings. The little forties cottage is a cherry on top. This picture may have been taken by my friend, the artist John Baeder. In addition to his body of work relating to diners and the glories of the American roadside, John has amassed an incredible archive of photographs of signs, a small part of which is included in his book Sign Language. If we're lucky he'll publish another volume. Dozens that he's sent to me are mixed up in my own modest accumulation.

As a child I was greatly impressed by a similar sign for Gordon's potato chips, with spinning wheels under a little panel delivery truck and a moving highway beneath it. Another memorable one was the Robin Hood Motel on US 41, in which the famous bandit drew his bow and fired an arrow.

Bar Mural

This mural was painted on the cinderblock wall of a humble roadside bar, somewhere near Valdosta, Georgia. I took the photo sometime in the 1980s. I didn't go inside, but the image must be a representation of the interior, almost as if the artist made the wall transparent.

It's doubtful that it still exists except in this image.

A thing of beauty is a joy forever.

Not Part of the Trinity

"Holy Spirt"

Graffiti near Ponce de Leon Avenue, Atlanta, GA

c. late 1970s

Polaroid photograph

Happy Valentine's Day

"bowlegged mamma all way from yumyummer."

Unmailed real photo postcard, c. 1925.

Air Freshener

Seen in a primitive restroom, rural Central America.

Glass

It's not always easy to make a good photograph of an opaque object. These pictures of clear glass laboratory devices must have required special talent in lighting. I bought them in appreciation of the beauty of the photos themselves, but found that the back story was just as impressive.

All of them are part of a bound notebook which served as a glass blower's application for promotion. He worked for a major American industrial lab. This artisan, after 26 years of work experience as a Laboratory Mechanic making these objects, applied to be promoted to Technician. These extremely specialized devices are his one-of-a-kind creations made to the specifications of scientists. His incredible skill in realizing the devices needed for their experiments is astonishing. I'm guessing that he got the promotion he wanted. The photographer is not credited.

Bed, Buried and Beyond

One of the things that sparked my interest in vernacular arts was my early exposure to decorated graves at an African American church in rural Georgia. Grave markers, from pyramids to mausoleums to uninscribed slabs of rock, have always provoked fascination with the limitless creativity exhibited in our last, permanent memorials. Have you ever seen the fantasy caskets from Ghana? It's a shame they're buried. All this was brought to mind by the snapshot shown here, which shows someone who chose to be buried in their bed. The inscription on the back identifies it as the grave of a Native American in Fort Washakie, Wyoming.