Hey Heads! I just drove by my areas most famous sign, the landmark of the area. The Hilltop Cactus. It stands maybe 35ft high on the main rd in town and there it has stood for over 50 years. A 35' cactus formed in sections out of green lexan and internally lit, it supports the large lghtboxes that are outlined in neon with reverse channel letters. Everybody in New England knows the Hilltop sign. Made by Mack Sign, they built a plastic forming shop just to make the sign.
This got me thinking....
Although its fame may be localized, there is no doubt, it has made quite a name for itself. Is there a "hilltop" in your town? The one sign that everybody knows? The one that people use as a landmark? a Famous Sign?
if your from Las Vegas, we know which it is.
[ June 02, 2002, 11:57 AM: Message edited by: captain ken ]
Posted by T.Howell (Member # 875) on :
Ken, when I read the "Famous signs" heading the first thing that came to my mind was the Hilltop sign.
The decorations at the base of the Las Vegas sign seem to be out of porportion: The fifth breast from the left appears to be a little larger.
Vegas gets showgirls...we get cows under our famous sign. What's up whit dat? Tom
Posted by Bob Rochon (Member # 30) on :
Hey Ken,
Funny you should bring this up, I was just chatting with another sign guy from Brokton last week about that sign, I remeber that sign since I was a little cow nibbler.
I would like to meet then sign men who built THAT let me tell you. True example of 100% effective signage.
I will post a pic of OUR local claim to fame, in the next few days, I must get it while it is lit, It is the Coney Island hot dog sign in Worcester, another true sign marvel.
These men where true crafstmen in all aspects, I wonder what software they used for that? ( lol )
Posted by George Perkins (Member # 156) on :
I doubt this one is still up, but I definately remember one from my childhood in the fifties. It was a neon extravaganza located atop a Budweiser brewery in Newark, N.J. It flashed Bud... Bud... Budweiser...the A in the Anheiser logo went through all sorts of color changes.. the eagle spread his wings and flapped them, the whole sequence took what seemed like an eternity to a kid....45 years later and nothing has come close Posted by Harris Kohen (Member # 2139) on :
Hey George
Last time that I looked the sign on the budweiser factory was still there and flappin its wings. It may hve gone through a rebuil since you saw it last but im srue its still there, I always used to look at it when I was at the airport across the street, if your really good you can see it from the NJ Turnpike, not sure anymore since they did a bunch of renovation to the airport.
Posted by bill riedel (Member # 607) on :
Yes, the big sign is still there at Newark airport, you can't miss it every time you go there.
Posted by Mike Kelly (Member # 2037) on :
Out my way, we have a 35' tall Mohawk Indian standing in front of what was once a nightclub called, get this........the Mohawk. What a coinsidence, eh? I've seen a lot of great acts at that club: Bo Diddley, the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Rick Nelson(4 months before he died), to name a few. The club has been closed for about 10 years now, but the Indian still stands proud. I hope to get a pic real soon. Bob, that Coney Island Hot Dog sign is awesome, as are their hot dogs.
Posted by Harris Kohen (Member # 2139) on :
Another memorable place/sign would have to be "Hot Dog Johnnys" on Route46 in Buttzville, NJ mostly because if you hav driven thru there you had to stop for a hot dog and fries not as much for the sign
Posted by Linda Silver Eagle (Member # 274) on :
jeez... I forgot possibly The world's most famous sign Posted by goddinfla (Member # 1502) on :
When I was a kid we had a 40 foot tall Early Times bottle on top of one of the taller buildings in downtown Tampa. They eventually painted it black and then tore it down. We also had a neon sign on the bay which was, according to Guinness, the world's largest sign at the time. There was also a sign on Gandy Blvd. with a fishing boat catching a tarpon. The waves moved and the tarpon jumped out of the water. Nothing special around here now.
Posted by John Thompson (Member # 2750) on :
Yeah Linda you got it, The Big Chicken rules. Glenn Taylor likes chickens hope he checks it out.
Posted by Steve Purcell (Member # 1140) on :
I always thought that the cactus was lit externally with exposed green neon. That's always been about the coolest sign in the entire state.
Posted by John Thompson (Member # 2750) on :
Not a landmark but kinda cool anyways. I don't know if you would count these as signs but when I was a kid, our local Bi-Lo grocery stores (I grew up in South Carolina, don't know about anywhere else) had these giant bulls on there roofs. I always thought they were cool. Now if you ride around the backroads of SC, you can sometimes spot one of these giant bulls in a pasture (they are a lot bigger than a real bull) as a joke.
Posted by Cam Bortz (Member # 55) on :
Keep all these in mind next time you here someone say "you can't get anyone to pay for anything decent around here"(wherever "here" might be).
The other issue I always think of is how zoning laws have made it unlikely that we'll ever see this sort of creativity today. Hey, just for a hoot, go try to pull a permit for a fifty-foot cactus sign, and watch your zoning board hyperventilate about visual clutter.
Posted by Linda Silver Eagle (Member # 274) on :
Ha ha ha!
Posted by Santo (Member # 411) on :
One of the brewery signs, Dixie i think, in New Orleans had a globe topping its sign. There was a smaller light for the moon that orbited the globe. The moon changed color depending on upcoming weather conditions.
Posted by Linda Silver Eagle (Member # 274) on :
Santo,
Don't reckon you'd have a pic of it? That I would love to see!
Posted by J.T. Gazaway (Member # 2001) on :
If you think the skull is big, you should see the steaks! Posted by captain ken (Member # 742) on :
That skull is awesome! come kids lets get some pictures, I wanna see the hot dog sign and the flapping wings.
Posted by Bob Rochon (Member # 30) on :
Hey Ken I'll grab the dog sign tomorrow, they're closed on tuesdays( go figure) I really want to get this sucker when its lit.
Posted by Harris Kohen (Member # 2139) on :
I just thought of another big sing in my area. its on the side of a bridge you can see it if your riding between philly and NY on the amtrak train. it says....
"TRENTON MAKES THE WORLD TAKES"
Of course most of us think that it really says ... "Trenton takes what the world rejects"
I will try to get a photo of that one
Posted by Glenn Taylor (Member # 162) on :
Ok....who's got gas?
Posted by timi NC (Member # 576) on :
Don't know if it's still there but I used to paint the JFG neon sign just outside the Panthers stadium in Charlotte,NC every 2 years or so. We got our pictures in the paper once doing it. The city made them tear it down when they built the stadium but a group of cocerned citizens got together and made them put it back up I think,...never will forget having to take out all those light bulbs (868 of them) to paint it and then reinstall any broken neon after the refurbish,...
Posted by Bob Gilliland (Member # 28) on :
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
The world's most famous sign
