Here’s a few that I’ve had up for a while. I started collecting these through the FIL who was into antiques and going to auctions etc. with him. Unfortunately he’s not collecting anymore, so am going through his collection to see what I want to keep and what should move on. I’ll post more as I get them hung up. I got the distillery sign at the York show one year...

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Lol! Yeah I’ve thought about it but never looked into it strongly. It’s obviously meant to be a double sided sign and I don’t have the frame or other side to it, so I’m not sure how hard it would be to do it. It’s not very stiff as it hangs now. It’s a great sign though.....

How do other folks handle that?

A bunch of the small signs I decided to keep from the FIL’s collection. Anybody know what the triangle “A” goes to?

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Latest acquisition, Anchor Steam beer. Heavy sucker too. I’m trying to date the era and all I’ve been able to figure out is that it’s likely pre 1965. I’m basing that on the older style logo. The thing that’s throwing me off is the 1851 date on it. All of the later logo’s refer to 1896 which is when a transfer of ownership occurred. I’ve not been able to find anything else Anchor Steam that talks about 1851. Any breweriana guys out there that might have a better handle on it?

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Yeah I had concerns around that too and I’ve seen the ones from India. I don’t think this is a repro though because I couldn’t find another one listed anywhere on the net despite doing several variations of extensive searches. The seller was also California based, so it seems to make sense that it’s genuine. There was one sold a while back that I saw, somewhat similar condition, but didn’t have any additional info with it.

Thanks for that and for digging into it. I think that beer would be post-1965 though, so if it was advertising their stout, I’m not sure why they would use an old logo. I think they would also specify it on the sign. But then who knows, maybe they just thought it was neater and did it lol.

Agreed. I wish I’d collected more back when they were a lot cheaper, but I spent my spare money on pins instead so I guess it all worked out lol. That Yuengling sign is a great one. I totally expected that to be beer related until I took a closer look at it. Been keeping my eyes out for new acquisitions but there’s very little out there….

Nice ones! I hear you on the pockets. Seems like just like with pins, there’s more folks out there with way more money to burn on these things than me. Your Gulf pick up and Ex-Lax thermometer reminded me of this one which I don’t think I’ve posted before. Also from the FIL’s collection….

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Latest acquisition….it’s a small one, but spent many a summer in Peoria so it makes me smile…

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That Snow White cream soda thermometer is really cool!

Looks oxidized maybe? I’ve not tried either of the recommendations on these web pages so take it all with a huge grain of salt, but they are a place to start anyway;

https://roadrelics.com/best-way-clean-porcelain-signs/

This one is more pottery oriented, but I think the part about cleaning the glaze might apply;

https://www.lakesidepottery.com/Pages/Pottery-tips/removing-dark-crazing-lines-and-stains-from-porcelain-and-pottery.htm

Good luck with it and let me know the results if you try it. I’ve got a couple of signs in a similar spot. On another note, what do you guys use to remove the clips that held in the neon? I’ve got one where some of the clips have not been removed. Looks like they were screwed directly into the metal, and have rusted fast over the 80 or so years the sign was hanging outdoors lol! Thanks….

Not a new acquisition but finally was able to finish taking the hardware off and hang it. This is the only sign I’ve ever been a part of taking down. Long story short, it hung outside an old electronics store in Hanover PA, FIL and I each took a half after getting it at the auction but were responsible for taking it down. Been years but finally got it together.

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I’ve been looking at this sign in a local antique mall for a long time. Couldn’t talk the owner down on it, so finally just bit the bullet and bought it. Probably overpaid for it but I just really like the colors and style. It pops. It’s gotten really tough to find decent original signs. The only other sign I saw in my travels was a very cool Willys and Whippet dealer service sign. Way out of my budget of course lol…

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