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The museum is quickly running out of space, but we're still looking for signs. Hopefully, more space soon will open at Essex Studios, where the museum's located, to accommodate new acquisitions, such as these regional signs from Ohio. One of our two storefront windows (and one mini-display) is devoted to 1930s and earlier POP signs; the other features 1940s to '50s neon. Two new acquisitions belong to the former genre. A reverse-screenprinted, lightbulb-illuminated clock was manufactured by Neon Products (Lima, OH), the "Dependable Brand Products." Neon Products first mass-produced neon clocks and POP signs, but readily switched to plastics and flourished through the late 1950s to '60s. 
The reverse-screenprinted, lightbulb-illuminated clock (above), manufactured by Neon Products, and the Pennvernon Window Glass sign (below), manufactured by Escolite, help fill out the museum's 1930s storefront window.
The second acquisition, a mid-to-late 1930s, lightbulb-illuminated sign ("Pennvernon Window Glass") has push-through, fluorescent-plastic letters, a precursor to the post-World War II era when plastics flourished. Before this acquisition, I hadn't heard of the Detroit-based sign manufacturer, Escolite, so I welcome readers to tell me more about the company. Local museum visitors are surprised our signs are acquired nationwide. Very few signs come from Cincinnati, or even the southern Ohio/Northern Kentucky area. However, a double-faced, neon, sheetmetal sign that promotes Hudepohl Beer has begun to fill this void. Hudepohl was locally brewed, and Covington, KY's City Hall Café, where the sign originated, sat across the river before urban renewal leveled the long-time watering hole. 
This double-faced, neon, sheetmetal Hudepohl sign originated locally. Most museum pieces are acquired nationally. The fourth acquisition — the familiar Arby's porcelain hat — was manufactured by Peskin Sign Co. (Youngstown, OH). Installed in Dallas, this sign was dismantled, donated and delivered by Diamond Signs (Irving, TX). CEO Gerry Peskin says he may provide neon for the sign when it's restored. New signs continue to arrive, and we're always looking for more. Don't forget the museum when you take down that classic sign! 
Arby's porcelain hat was manufactured by Peskin Sign Co. (Youngstown, OH), but it was installed in Dallas. |
