The Preservation of Historic
Signs
Michael J. Auer
"Signs" refers to a
great number of verbal, symbolic or figural markers. Posters,
billboards, graffiti and traffic signals, corporate logos,
flags, decals and bumper stickers, insignia on baseball caps
and tee shirts: all of these are "signs." Buildings
themselves can be signs, as structures shaped like hot dogs,
coffee pots or Chippendale highboys attest. The signs
encountered each day are seemingly countless, for language
itself is largely symbolic. This Brief, however, will limit
its discussion of "signs" to lettered or symbolic messages
affixed to historic buildings or associated with
them.
Signs are everywhere. And
everywhere they play an important role in human activity.
They identify. They direct and decorate. They promote,
inform, and advertise. Signs are essentially social. They
name a human activity, and often identify who is doing it.
Signs allow the owner to communicate with the reader, and the
people inside a building to communicate with those outside of
it.
Signs speak of the people
who run the businesses, shops, and firms. Signs are
signatures. They reflect the owner's tastes and personality.
They often reflect the ethnic makeup of a neighborhood and
its character, as well as the social and business activities
carried out there. By giving concrete details about daily
life in a former era, historic signs allow the past to speak
to the present in ways that buildings by themselves do not
(Figs. 1 and 2). And multiple surviving historic signs on the
same building can indicate several periods in its history or
use. In this respect, signs are like archeological layers
that reveal different periods of human occupancy and
use.
Historic signs give
continuity to public spaces, becoming part of the community
memory. They sometimes become landmarks in themselves, almost
without regard for the building to which they are attached,
or the property on which they stand. Furthermore, in an age
of uniform franchise signs and generic plastic "box" signs,
historic signs often attract by their individuality: by a
clever detail, a daring use of color and motion, or a
reference to particular people, shops, or events.
Yet historic signs pose
problems for those who would save them. Buildings change
uses. Businesses undergo change in ownership. New ownership
or use normally brings change in signs. Signs are typically
part of a business owner's sales strategy, and may be changed
to reflect evolving business practices or to project a new
image.
Signs also change to
reflect trends in architecture and technology: witness the
Art Deco and Depression Modern lettering popular in the 1920s
and 1930s, and the use of neon in the 1940s and 1950s.
The cultural significance
of signs combined with their often transitory nature makes
the preservation of historic signs fraught with questions,
problems, and paradoxes. If the common practice in every
period has been to change signs with regularity, when and how
should historic signs be kept? If the business is changing
hands, how can historic signs be reused? The subject is an
important one, and offers opportunities to save elements that
convey the texture of daily life from the past.
This Brief will attempt
to answer some of the preservation questions raised by
historic signs. It will discuss historic sign practices, and
show examples of how historic signs have been preserved even
when the business has changed hands or the building itself
has been converted to a new use.
Historic Sign Types
and Practices
Pre-Nineteenth
Century
American sign practices
originated largely in Europe. The earliest commercial signs
included symbols of the merchant's goods or tradesman's
craft. Emblems were mounted on poles, suspended from
buildings, or painted on hanging wooden boards. Such symbolic
signs were necessary in a society where few could read,
although verbal signs were not entirely unknown. A sheep
signified a tailor, a tankard a tavern. The red and white
striped pole signifying the barbershop, and the three gold
balls outside the pawnshop are two such emblems that can
occasionally be seen today (Fig. 3). (The barber's sign
survives from an era when barbers were also surgeons; the
emblem suggests bloody bandages associated with the craft.
The pawnbroker's sign is a sign of a sign: it derives from
the coat of arms of the Medici banking family.)
Flat signs with lettering
mounted flush against the building gradually replaced
hanging, symbolic signs. The suspended signs posed safety
hazards, and creaked when they swayed in the wind: "The
creaking signs not only kept the citizens awake at night, but
they knocked them off their horses, and occasionally fell on
them too." The result, in England, was a law in 1762 banning
large projecting signs. In 1797 all projecting signs were
forbidden, although some establishments, notably "public
houses," retained the hanging sign tradition."(1)
By the end of the
eighteenth century, the hanging sign had declined in
popularity. Flat or flush-mounted signs, on the other hand,
had become standard. Like symbolic signs, however, the
tradition of projecting signs has survived into the
present.
Nineteenth Century Signs
and Sign Practices
Surviving
nineteenth-century photographs depict a great variety of
signs. The list of signs discussed here is by no means
exhaustive.
Fascia signs, placed on
the fascia or horizontal band between the storefront and the
second floor, were among the most common. The fascia is often
called the "signboard," and as the word implies, provided a
perfect place for a sign--then as now. The narrowness of the
fascia imposed strict limits on the sign maker, however, and
such signs usually gave little more than the name of the
business and perhaps a street number.
Similar to fascia signs
were signs between the levels of windows across the upper
facade. Such signs were mounted on horizontal boards or
painted on the building. Signs of this type tended to use
several "lines" of text, the name of business and short
description, for example. The message, reading from top to
bottom, sometimes covered several stories of the building.
Other painted signs presented figures, products, or scenes.
Such signs were typically more vertical than horizontal in
emphasis. Whether such painted signs featured text or images,
they became major features of the building, as their makers
intended them to be. The building itself often became a
backdrop for the sign.
Signs in the form of
plaques, shields, and ovals were used on many
nineteenth-century buildings (Fig 4). Such signs had the
advantage of being easily replaced as tenants came and went.
They also easily incorporated images as well as
lettering.
Hanging or projecting
signs, both lettered and symbolic, were also common in the
nineteenth century, although less so than previously.
Projecting signs were often paired with another at a
45-degree angle for increased visibility. Occasionally a sign
would stretch out from the building across the sidewalk,
supported by a post at the street.
Goldleaf signs, and signs
painted or etched on glass in windows, doors and transoms
were quite common.
Porcelain enamel signs
were also very popular in the latter half of the nineteenth
century and into the mid-twentieth century. Signs carved from
stone or wood also appeared frequently, especially on
institutional buildings. Painted shutters and even window
shades provided additional advertising space.
Posters found their way
into display windows when they weren't pasted onto the
building. Sidewalk signs or "sandwich boards" offered another
chance to catch the eye of any passerby not watching the
graphics overhead.
Nineteenth-century
tenants looking for additional advertising space found it in
unexpected places. They used the entrance steps to mount
signs in a variety of ways: Handrails, risers, skirts, and
balusters sported signs that gave businesses on upper levels
a chance to attract
notice.
Awnings offered other
opportunities for keeping a name before the public. The
fringe or skirt of the awning, as well as the panel at the
side were the usual places for a name or street number.
Flags, particularly hung from the upper floors, and banners,
sometimes stretching across the sidewalk, also appeared on
buildings.
Rooftop signs appeared
with greater frequency in the second half of the nineteenth
century than previously. Earlier rooftop signs tended to be
relatively simple--often merely larger versions of the
horizontal signs typically found on lower levels. Late in the
century the signs became more ornate as well as more
numerous. These later rooftop signs were typically found on
hotels, theaters, banks and other large buildings.
The sign types described
here were not used in isolation. Window and awning signs
attracted sidewalk pedestrians and people in the street.
Upper level signs reached viewers at greater distances. If
signs were numerous, however, they were nonetheless usually
small in scale.
As the century wore on,
signs increased in size and scale. Wall signs several stories
high were not uncommon in the second half of the century (Fig
5). This development reflects changes in urban life as the
century headed to its close. Cities were experiencing rapid
population growth. Buildings became bigger and taller.
Elevated trains and electric trolleys increased the pace of
city life. And when it comes to signs, speed alters scale.
The faster people travel, the bigger a sign has to be before
they can see it.
Twentieth Century Signs
and Sign Practices
The advent of the
twentieth century approximately coincided with the coming of
electricity, which gave signs light and, later, movement.
Illuminated signs were not unknown before electricity. An
advertisement printed about 1700 mentioned a nighttime sign
lit by candles, and in 1840 the legendary showman P.T. Barnum
built a huge sign illuminated by gas.(2) But electricity was
safer and cheaper than candles, kerosene and gas. Its
widespread use gave signs a prominence they retain today:
illuminated signs dominate the streets at night.
Electricity permitted
signs to be illuminated by light shining onto them, but the
real revolution occurred when lightbulbs were used to form
the images and words on signs (Fig 6). Lightbulbs flashing on
and off made new demands on the attention of passersby.
Lightbulbs blinking in sequence could also simulate movement.
Add this property to the mix, and a dramatic transformation
of American streets resulted.
Moving signs were not
unknown prior to the advent of electricity, for wind-driven
signs had made their appearance in the nineteenth century.
But electricity gave signs an unparalleled range of motion.
This movement added yet another element to the life of the
street.
Neon is another great
twentieth-century contribution to the signmaker's art.
"Neon," coined from the Greek word for "new," is a "new gas."
It has the useful property of glowing when an electric charge
passes through it. (Argon, krypton, xenon and helium share
this property. Only neon and argon, however, are typically
used in commercial signs.) Encased in glass tubes shaped into
letters or symbols, neon offered signmakers an opportunity to
mold light into an infinite variety of shapes, colors, and
images. Combined with an electric timer, the neon tubing
could present images moving in succession.
Neon first appeared in
signs in the 1920s, and reached its height of popularity in
the 1940s. The first documented neon commercial sign in the
United States was at a Packard Motor Car dealership in Los
Angeles in 1923.(3) After a period of decline, it underwent a
renaissance, beginning in the 1970s. Artists experimented
with neon as a conscious art-form, and several notable
architects further helped in its revival.(4) Renewed interest
in this colorful medium also sparked interest in preserving
historic neon signs.
Along with such
developments as the coming of electricity and then neon,
stylistic movements influenced twentieth-century signs. In
particular, Art Deco and Streamlined Moderne affected not
just buildings, but their signs as well.
Architects working in
these styles often integrated signs and buildings into a
unified design. This was particularly true of storefronts
built using pigmented structural glass, commonly known as
"Carrara glass," and porcelain enamel on steel panels. These
materials allowed words and images to be etched into the
glass or enamel, or to be constructed in different colors and
patterns as part of an overall design for the building. Such
storefronts were popular from the 1920s into the 1940s (Fig.
7).
As the century advanced,
new styles took hold. The late 1950s brought signs with fins,
star bursts, and other images reflecting a new fascination
with outer space (Fig. 8).
In the decades after
World War II signs were also transformed by a group of
materials now known generically as "plastic." Plastic had
several advantages over wood, metal and other traditional
sign materials. As the name indicates, "plastic" can take
almost any shape. It can also take almost any color. Plastic
is translucent. Lit from behind, it appears to glow. It is
relatively durable. Above all, it is inexpensive, and can be
mass produced. Plastic quickly became the dominant sign
material.
Another profound
influence on signs in this period stemmed from business
trends rather than from technological breakthroughs or design
movements: the rise of chain stores and franchises. National
firms replaced many local businesses. Standard corporate
signs went up; local trademarks came down. The rise of mass
culture, of which the national chain is but one expression,
has meant the rise of standardization, and the elimination of
regional differences and local character.
The decline of
gold-leafing and other traditional sign techniques
contributed to these trends. Mass-produced signs have
replaced local signs that differed from owner to owner and
from signmaker to signmaker. The result is not just sameness,
but impersonality as well: It is becoming rarer, for example,
to find owners' names on signs. Whether the trend toward
sameness can successfully be resisted is yet to be seen.
(Some crafts, such as gold-leafing and porcelain enameling,
for example, have experienced a revival of sorts.) But the
preservation of historic signs is one way to ensure that at
least some of these expressions of local history continue to
enliven our streets.
Sign Regulation
Historic commercial areas
have customarily been a riot of signs. Yet if clutter has
ample precedent, so do efforts to control it. Early attempts
to regulate signs in this country include those of
professional associations of advertisers, such as the
International Bill Posters Organization of North America,
founded in St. Louis in 1872.(5)
However, early efforts by
municipalities to enact sign regulations met with disfavor in
the courts, which traditionally opposed any regulatory effort
based on aesthetic concerns. Early successes in the legal
arena, such as the 1911 case, St. Louis Gunning Advertising
Company v. City of St. Louis, were realized when proponents
of sign controls argued that signs and billboards endangered
public health and safety.
Yet gradually courts
found merit in the regulation of private property for
aesthetic reasons. In 1954 the U.S. Supreme Court handed down
the landmark decision, Berman v. Parker, in which the court
declared: "It is within the power of the legislature to
determine that the community should be beautiful as well as
healthy, spacious as well as clean, well balanced as well as
carefully patrolled." (6)
With the blessing of the
courts, communities across the nation have enacted sign
controls to reduce "urban blight." And where historic
buildings are concerned, the growth of local review
commissions has added to the momentum for controls in
historic districts.
Typically, sign controls
regulate the number, size and type of signs. In some cases,
moving or projecting signs are prohibited. Often such
ordinances also regulate sign placement--owners are told to
line up their signs with others on the block, for example.
Materials, likewise, are prescribed: wood is encouraged,
plastic discouraged or forbidden altogether. Sign controls
often specify lighting sources: indirect illumination (light
shining onto the sign) is often required instead of neon
tubing, bare lightbulbs, or "backlighting," used in most
plastic signs. Some ordinances forbid lighting completely.
(Neon, especially, is still held in disfavor in some areas.)
Finally, ordinances sometimes require signs to be
"compatible" in color and other design qualities with the
facade of the building and the overall appearance of the
street.
Existing signs frequently
do not meet requirements set forth in sign controls. They are
too big, for example, or project too far from the building.
Typically, sign ordinances permit such "nonconforming"
existing signs to remain, but only for a specified period,
after which they must be removed. If they need repair before
then, or if the business changes owners, they must likewise
be removed.
Sign controls offer
communities the chance to reduce visual blight. They can also
assist in producing both a new visibility and a new viability
for historic commercial districts. Yet sign ordinances are
not without problems. Sign controls satisfy contemporary
ideas of "good taste." But "bad taste" has ample historic
precedent. And in any case, tastes change. What is tasteful
today may be dated tomorrow. Sign controls can impose a
uniformity that falsifies history. Most historic districts
contain buildings constructed over a long period of time, by
different owners for different purposes; the buildings
reflect different architectural styles and personal tastes.
By requiring a standard sign "image" in such matters as size,
material, typeface and other qualities, sign controls can
mute the diversity of historic districts. Such controls can
also sacrifice signs of some age and distinction that have
not yet come back into fashion.(7) Neon serves as an
instructive example in this regard: once "in," then "out,"
then "in" again. Unfortunately, a great number of notable
signs were lost because sign controls were drafted in many
communities when neon was "out." Increasingly, however,
communities are enacting ordinances that recognize older and
historic signs and permit them to be kept. The National Park
Service encourages this trend.
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Sign as Icon
Signs often become so
important to a community that they are valued long after
their role as commercial markers has ceased. They become
landmarks, loved because they have been visible at certain
street corners--or from many vantage points across the
city--for a long time (Fig. 9). Such signs are valued for
their familiarity, their beauty, their humor, their size, or
even their grotesqueness. In these cases, signs transcend
their conventional role as vehicles of information, as
identifiers of something else. When signs reach this stage,
they accumulate rich layers of meaning. They no longer merely
advertise, but are valued in and of themselves. They become
icons.
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Preserving Historic
Signs
Historic signs can
contribute to the character of buildings and districts. They
can also be valued in themselves, quite apart from the
buildings to which they may be attached. However, any program
to preserve historic signs must recognize the challenges they
present. These challenges are not for the most part
technical. Sign preservation is more likely to involve
aesthetic concerns and to generate community debate. Added to
these concerns are several community goals that often appear
to conflict: retaining diverse elements from the
past, encouraging
artistic expression in new signs, zoning for aesthetic
concerns, and reconciling business requirements with
preservation.
Preserving historic signs
is not always easy. But the intrinsic merit of many signs, as
well as their contribution to the overall character of a
place, make the effort worthwhile. Observing the guidelines
given below can help preserve both business and
history.
Retaining Historic
Signs
Retain historic signs
whenever possible, particularly when they are:
* associated with
historic figures, events or places (Fig. 10).
* significant as evidence
of the history of the product, business or service advertised
(Fig. 11).
* significant as
reflecting the history of the building or the development of
the historic district. A sign may be the only indicator of a
building's historic use (Fig. 12)
* characteristic of a
specific historic period, such as gold leaf on glass, neon,
or stainless steel lettering.
* integral to the
building's design or physical fabric, as when a sign is part
of a storefront made of Carrara glass or enamel panels, or
when the name of the historic firm or the date are rendered
in stone, metal or tile (Fig. 13). In such cases, removal can
harm the integrity of a historic property's design, or cause
significant damage to its materials.
* outstanding examples of
the signmaker's art, whether because of their excellent
craftsmanship, use of materials, or design (Fig. 14).
* Local landmarks, that
is, signs recognized as popular focal points in a
community (Fig.
15).
* elements important in
defining the character of a district, such as marquees in a
theater district.
Maintaining and Repairing
Historic Signs
Maintenance of historic
signs is essential for their long-term preservation. Sign
maintenance involves periodic inspections for evidence of
damage and deterioration. Lightbulbs may need replacement.
Screws and bolts may be weakened, or missing altogether. Dirt
and other debris may be accumulating, introduced by birds or
insects, and should be cleaned out. Water may be collecting
in or on sign cabinets, threatening electrical connections.
The source of water penetration should be identified and
sealed. Most of these minor repairs are routine maintenance
measures, and do not call for special expertise. All repairs,
however, require caution. For example, electricity should be
turned off when working around electric signs.
More extensive repairs
should be undertaken by professionals. The sign industry is a
large and active one. Sign designers, fabricators and skilled
craftsmen are located throughout the country. Once in danger
of being lost altogether, gold leaf on glass and porcelain
enamel are undergoing revivals, and the art of bending neon
tubes is now widely practiced. Finding help
from qualified sources
should not be difficult. Before contracting for work on
historic signs, however, owners should check references, and
view other projects completed by the same company.
Major repairs may require
removal of the sign to a workshop. Since signs are sometimes
damaged while the building is undergoing repair, work on the
building should be scheduled while the sign is in the shop.
(If the sign remains in place while work on the building is
in progress, the sign should be protected.)
Repair techniques for
specific sign materials are discussed below (see "Repairing
Historic Sign Materials" on page 10). The overall goal in
repairs such as supplying missing letters, replacing broken
neon tubing, or splicing in new members for deteriorated
sections is to restore a sign that is otherwise whole.
Recognize, however, that the apparent age of historic signs
is one of their major features; do not "over restore" signs
so that all evidence of their age is lost, even though the
appearance and form may be recaptured.
Reusing Historic
Signs
If a building or business
has changed hands, historic signs associated with former
enterprises in the building should be reused if possible
by:
* keeping the historic
sign--unaltered. This is often possible even when the new
business is of a different nature from the old. Preferably,
the old sign can be left in its historic location; sometimes,
however, it may be necessary to move the sign elsewhere on
the building to accommodate a new one. Conversely, it may be
necessary to relocate new signs to avoid hiding or
overwhelming historic ones, or to redesign proposed new signs
so that the old ones may remain. (The legitimate advertising
needs of current tenants, however, must be
recognized.)
Keeping the old sign is
often a good marketing strategy. It can exploit the
recognition value of the old name and play upon the public's
fondness for the old sign. The advertising value of an old
sign can be immense. This is especially true when the sign is
a community landmark.
* relocating the sign to
the interior, such as in the lobby or above the bar in a
restaurant. This option is less preferable than keeping the
sign outside the building, but it does preserve the sign, and
leaves open the possibility of putting it back in its
historic location .
* modifying the sign for
use with the new business. This may not be possible without
destroying essential features, but in some cases it can be
done by changing details only (Fig. 16). In other respects,
the sign may be perfectly serviceable as is.
If none of these options
is possible, the sign could be donated to a local museum,
preservation organization or other group.
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Repairing Historic Sign
Materials
PORCELAIN ENAMEL.
Porcelain enamel is among the most durable of materials used
in signs.(8) Made of glass bonded onto metal (usually steel)
at high temperatures, it keeps both its high gloss and its
colors for decades. Since the surface of the sign is
essentially glass, porcelain enamel is virtually maintenance
free; dirt can be washed off with soap and water and other
glass cleaners.
Porcelain enamel signs
can be damaged by direct blows from stones and other sharp
objects. If both the enamel surface and the undercoat are
scratched, the metal surface can rust at the impact site.
Because the bond between glass and metal is so strong,
however, the rust does not "travel" behind the glass, and the
rust is normally confined to localized areas. The sign edges
can also rust if they were never enamelled. To treat the
problem, clean the rust off carefully, and touchup the area
with cold enamel (a type of epoxy used mostly in jewelry), or
with enamel paints.
Dents in porcelain enamel
signs should be left alone. Attempting to hammer them out
risks further damage.
GOLDLEAF OR GILDING.
Goldleaf or gilding is both elegant and durable. These
properties made it among the most popular sign materials in
the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Surface-gilded
signs (for example, gilded raised letters or symbols found on
the exterior) typically last about 40 years. Damage to these
signs occurs from weather and abrasion. Damage to gilded
signs on glass normally occurs when the protective coating
applied over the gilding is removed by harsh cleaning
chemicals or scratched by scrub brushes. The sign can then
flake upon subsequent cleanings.
Historic gilded signs can
be repaired, typically by regilding damaged areas. An oil
size is painted on the surface. The gold leaf is applied when
the surface has become sufficiently "tacky." Similarly,
historic "reverse on glass" goldleaf signs can be
repaired--by experts. A sample of the flaking sign is first
taken to determine its composition. Reverse on glass signs
use goldleaf ranging from 12 to 23 karats. The gold is
alloyed with copper and silver in varying amounts for
differences in color. (Surface gilding--on raised letters,
picture frames and statehouse domes--uses 23 karat gold. Pure
gold, 24 karat, is too soft to use in such applications.) The
damaged portions of the sign are then regilded in the same
manner as they were done historically: the inside surface of
the glass is coated with a gelatin; gold leaves about three
inches square are then spread over the area. The new letter
or design is then drawn in reverse on the new leaf, and
coated with a backing paint (normally a chrome yellow). With
the new design thus sealed, the rest of the leaf is removed.
The sign is then sealed with a clear, water-resistant
varnish.
Gilded signs, both
surface and reverse on glass, can be cleaned gently with soap
and water, using a soft cloth. Additionally, for glass signs,
the varnish backing should be replaced every seven years at
the latest.
NEON. Neon signs can last
50 years, although 20-25 years is more typical. When a neon
sign fails, it is not because the gas has "failed," but
because the system surrounding it has broken down. The glass
tubes have been broken, for example, thus letting the gas
escape, or the electrodes or transformers have failed. If the
tube is broken, a new one must be made by a highly skilled
"glass bender." After the hot glass tube has been shaped, it
must undergo "purification" before being refilled with gas.
The glass and the metal electrode at the end of the tube are
heated in turns. As these elements become hot, surface
impurities burn off into the tube. The resulting vapor is
then removed through "evacuation" -- the process of creating
a vacuum. Only then is the "neon" gas (neon or mercury-argon)
added. Neon gives red light, mercury-argon produces blue.
Other colors are produced by using colored glass and any of
dozens of phosphor coatings inside the tube. Green, for
example, can be produced by using mercury-argon in yellow
glass. Since color is so important in neon signs, it is vital
to determine the original color or colors. A neon studio can
accomplish this using a number of specialized
techniques.
A failing transformer can
cause the neon sign to flicker intensely, and may have to be
replaced. Flickering neon can also indicate a problem with
the gas pressure inside the tube. The gas may be at too high
or too low a pressure. If so, the gas must be
repumped.
Repairs to neon signs
also include repairs to the surrounding components of the
sign. The "metal cans" that often serve as backdrops to the
tubing may need cleaning or, in case of rust, scraping and
repainting.
As with gilded signs,
repair of neon signs is not a matter for amateurs (Fig.
17).
_____________________________________________________
New Signs and Historic
Buildings
Preserving old signs is
one thing. Making new ones is another. Closely related to the
preservation of historic signs on historic buildings is the
subject of new signs for historic buildings. Determining what
new signs are appropriate for historic buildings, however,
involves a major paradox: Historic sign practices were not
always "sympathetic" to buildings. They were often
unsympathetic to the building, or frankly contemptuous of it.
Repeating some historic practices, therefore, would
definitely not be recommended.
Yet many efforts to
control signage lead to bland sameness. For this reason the
National Park Service discourages the adoption of local
guidelines that are too restrictive, and that effectively
dictate uniform signs within commercial districts. Instead,
it encourages communities to promote diversity in
signs--their sizes, types, colors, lighting, lettering and
other qualities. It also encourages business owners to choose
signs that reflect their own tastes, values, and
personalities. At the same time, tenant sign practices can be
stricter than sign ordinances. The National Park Service
therefore encourages businesses to fit their sign programs to
the building.
The following points
should be considered when designing and constructing new
signs for historic buildings:
* signs should be viewed
as part of an overall graphics system for the building. They
do not have to do all the "work" by themselves. The
building's form, name and outstanding features, both
decorative and functional, also support the advertising
function of a sign. Signs should work with the building,
rather than against it.
* new signs should
respect the size, scale and design of the historic building.
Often features or details of the building will suggest a
motif for new signs.
* sign placement is
important: new signs should not obscure significant features
of the historic building. (Signs above a storefront should
fit within the historic signboard, for example.)
* new signs should also
respect neighboring buildings. They should not shadow or
overpower adjacent structures.
* sign materials should
be compatible with those of the historic building. Materials
characteristic of the building's period and style, used in
contemporary designs, can form effective new signs.
* new signs should be
attached to the building carefully, both to prevent damage to
historic fabric, and to ensure the safety of pedestrians.
Fittings should penetrate mortar joints rather than brick,
for example, and signloads should be properly calculated and
distributed.
Conclusion
Historic signs once
allowed buyers and sellers to communicate quickly, using
images that were the medium of daily life. Surviving historic
signs have not lost their ability to speak. But their message
has changed. By communicating names, addresses, prices,
products, images and other fragments of daily life, they also
bring the past to life (Fig. 18).
_______________________________________________
With halting steps I
paced the streets, and passed the sign of "The Crossed
Harpoons" --but it looked too expensive and jolly there. . .
. Moving on, I at last came to a dim sort of light not far
from the docks, and heard a forlorn creaking in the air; and
looking up, saw a swinging sign over the door with a white
painting upon it, faintly representing a tall straight jet of
misty spray, and these words underneath -- "The Spouter Inn:
--Peter Coffin."
The creaking wooden sign
in Moby Dick identifies public lodging. But it also does a
great deal more than that. It projects an image. It sets a
mood and defines a place. The ability to convey commercial
and symbolic messages is a property of all signs, not just
those in novels.
Every sign hanging
outside a door, standing on a roof, extending over a
storefront, or marching across a wall transmits messages from
the sign maker to the sign reader. Mixed in with names,
addresses, business hours and products are images,
personalities, values and beliefs.
________________________________________________
Selected Reading List
DiLamme, Philip. American
Streamline: A Handbook of Neon Advertising Design.
Cincinnati: ST Publications, 1988.
Evans, Bill and Andrew
Lawson. Shopfronts. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Co.,
1981.
The Gilder's Manual.
Washington, D.C.: The Society of Gilders, 1991. (Reprint of
The Gilder's Manual; A Practical Guide to Gilding in All its
Branches. New York: Excelsior Publishing House, 1876.)
Liebs, Chester. Main
Street to Miracle Mile: American Roadside Architecture.
Boston: Little, Brown and Company/ New York Graphics Society,
1985.
National Main Street
Center. Main Street Guidelines: Signs for Main Street.
Washington, D.C.: National Trust for Historic Preservation,
1987.
Phillips, Peter H. "Sign
Controls for Historic Signs," PAS Memo. Chicago: American
Planning Association, November 1988.
Smith, Kent. Gold Leaf
Techniques. Cincinnati: ST Publications, 1989.
Stage, William. Ghost
Signs: Brick Wall Signs in America. Cincinnati: ST
Publications, 1989.
Stern, Rudi. Let There Be
Neon. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1979. (Rev.
1988).
NOTES
(1) Bill Evans and Andrew
Lawson, Shopfronts. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Co.,
1981, p. 109, 114.
(2) Charles L.H. Wagner,
The Story of Signs: An Outline History of the Sign Arts from
Earliest Recorded Times to the Present "Atomic Age". Boston:
Arthur MacGibbon, 1954, p. 37.
(3) Rudi Stern, Let There
Be Neon. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc. 1979, p. 19.
(4) See Robert Venturi,
Denise Scott Brown, and Steven Izenour, Learning from Las
Vegas. Rev. ed. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1977.
(5) George H. Kramer,
"Preserving Historic Signs in the Commercial Landscape: The
Impact of Regulation." (Unpublished Masters Thesis:
University of Oregon, 1989), p. 15. This section on sign
regulation is heavily indebted to this work. See especially
Chapter 2, History of Sign Regulation and Chapter 3,
Mechanics of Sign Regulation, pp. 7-60.
(6) Berman v. Parker
involved the condemnation of an older building for an urban
renewal project. The decision "ironically would prove to be a
major spur to a new wave of local preservation laws...."
Christopher J. Duerksen, ed. A Handbook on Historic
Preservation Law. Washington, D.C.: The Conservation
Foundation and The National Center for Preservation Law,
1983, p. 7.
(7) A balanced approach
to sign controls is offered by Peter H. Phillips, "Sign
Controls for Historic Signs," PAS Memo, November 1988.
(Published by American Planning Association, Washington,
D.C.).
(8) See John Tymoski,
"Porcelain Enamel: The Sign Industry's Most Durable
Material," Signs of the Times, December 1990, pp. 6671. For
goldleaf, see October 1984 and November 1990 special issues
of Signs of the Times. An excellent short "course" in neon
evaluation is offered in "Neon: The Good, the Bad, and the
Ugly," by Paul R. Davis, Identity, Spring 1991, pp.
5659.
Acknowledgements
The author gratefully
acknowledges the invaluable assistance of Beth Savage,
National Register of Historic Places. The author is also
indebted to Rebecca Shiffer of The Society for Commercial
Archeology, and to other colleagues in the cultural resources
programs of the National Park Service, sign artists in
private practice, and professionals and preservationists in a
number of organizations. These include staff of the Technical
Preservation Services Branch, directed by H. Ward Jandl,
especially Kay Weeks, Anne Grimmer, Sharon C. Park, and
Thomas C. Jester; staff of the National Park Service Regional
Offices, especially Michael Crowe, Thomas Keohan, Catherine
Colby and Christopher Jones; deTeel Patterson Tiller and
Stephen Morris, Interagency Resources Division; Caroline
Bedinger, Historic American Engineering Record; Catherine
Lavoie and Sara Leach, Historic American Buildings Survey,
and Stan Fowler of Glen Echo Park. Significant contributions
were also made by Peter Phillips, Yuma County Planning
Department; Pratt Cassity of the National Alliance of
Preservation Commissions; Betsy Jackson, Doug Loescher and
Kennedy Smith of the National Trust for Historic
Preservation; Richard Longstreth, George Washington
University; Richard Wagner, David H. Gleason Associates,
Inc.; Michael Jackson, Illinois Historic Preservation Agency;
Vance Kelley, Kansas State Historical Society; William
Pencek, Maryland
Historical Trust, Chere Jiusto, Montana Historical Society,
and Gerron Hite and Stan Graves, Texas State Historical
Commission (the latter on behalf of the National Conference
of State Historic Preservation Officers). The following
artists and professionals active in the sign industry offered
publications, photographs, technical material, and advice:
Lynn Baxter and Tod Swormstedt, ST Publications; Kent Smith,
Kent Smith Signs; Craig Kraft, Kraft Studios; Larry Kanter,
Neon Projects; Len Davidson, Davidson Neon Design; Thomas
Ellis, The Enamelist Society; Timothy Pugh, the Porcelain
Enamel Institute; William Adair, Goldleaf Studios.
Washington, D.C. October
1991
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