Signs Signs Everywhere There’s Signs….

In a previous post I had mentioned making some arrangements to stop by a few neon shops during our travels.  Yesterday we were able to do this.  …but not simply a neon shop.  This is the shop of Neonworks of Cincinnati that is adjacent to (and on the tour of) the American Sign Museum in Cincinnati, Ohio.  If you are remotely interested in signs or even think perhaps you could be…or even if you are not but just want to see something incredible, then check this place out.  The museum benefits from a family connection to ST Publications, which has–for decades, published Signs of The Times which is the widely respected trade journal for the sign industry.  As a result of this, a few purchases, and generous donations they have one of the best collections of historic signs on public display.  For those interested, the neon shop is included in the tour as well and allows the public to get a glimpse into the creation of these wonderful pieces of art.  I almost did not get to go, however.

You see, the museum is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.  I was unaware of this until last Thursday and given our schedule it seemed unlikely to work out for us.  Luckily, a quick phone call to Neonworks of Cincinnati resulted in Tom and Greg not only being able to keep the tentative invite to stop by the shop and say hello but to also open up the museum and turn on some of the displays so that we could view them at our leisure!  Getting a private tour in this manner is definitely one of the highlights of the trip thus far!  Signs are often the underappreciated objects of information but in a very real sense are truly an artform that is worthy of preservation.  The work of this museum and others like it is important and we should be glad they are there.  Additionally, I am very grateful that they were able to take some time to accommodate our schedule and allow us to visit, photograph, swap a few ideas, and view this wonderful collection.  As an unexpected bonus, I was also able to purchase some NOS glass that I will take back home to Alaska for my own projects!! (Getting neon glass tubing is becoming a challenge for all of us but in my case it is also impeded by the shipping logistics so being able to do this is a really big deal.)

Go visit them if you can, for more information you may find them online at:

http://www.americansignmuseum.org/