While some people despise advertising along the highway, I often get a kick out of it. On the down-side it spoils the view, but it’s Friday, so I want to look at the positive side of highway advertising for Only The Good. “What would that be?” you ask. Entertainment value!
This week, while driving down a farm to market road, a particular sign caught my eye. After I passed it, I realized I that only four words on that sign sunk into my brain: Live Bait Scented Candles.
Those candles come in nightcrawler, worm, minnow, meal grub, Euro larva, and cricket scents.
I wondered, “Have those folks never read their sign?”
Well, that advertising hooked me, so to speak, and I did a U-turn so I could get that picture. When I stopped, I just had to go inside. Sure enough, they did sell scented candles. I looked at the signs labeling every stinkin’ one, and there weren’t any labeled “Minnow.” I actually did buy one labeled “Frankincense and Myrrh,” because I felt sorry for those good folks. See, advertising works (one way or another). Y’all know that a roadside store in the middle of nowhere is not an easy way to make a living. I figured that very few candle aficionados are drawn in by that advertising. Probably the only customers they ever get are carping old fishermen and ridiculously silly people like me.
I expect you are scratching your heads wondering why I bothered to get that picture. You see, I’m still lamenting one of those pictures I didn’t take! There is a tiny shopping center in Farmersville, Texas that had a sign for the shops located in it. The sign has changed since years ago, when it read:
DONUTS
CHILD CARE
I wish I had a picture of that. Stuff like that only happens in Texas.
I’ve had other roadsigns that I enjoyed, particularly this one:
There is still hope?
My favorite roadsigns aren’t along the highways anymore. Do y’all not remember the Burma Shave signs that dotted the roadsides? I think the advertising campaign stopped in the early 1960s, but we used to press our noses to the window glass as Daddy drove us down the road — watching for those six signs posted in consecutive order on the roadside. One that I really remember seeing said,
Sure had
Trouble
Short term wives
Long term stubble
Burma-Shave.
While that roadside advertising can be very unsightly, it gives me a chuckle and makes my trips seem shorter. I’ll call that “good.”
Has any roadside advertising ever caught your eye?
I hope you all have a weekend filled with Only The Good!
Other posts you might enjoy:
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There is a small stripcenter near us that has a sign advertising:
car wash
legal advice/lawyer
nail salon
It always makes me giggle thinking of one stop shopping.
.-= Elizabeth´s last blog ..Books – wonderful glorious books & A Good Deed =-.
We used to joke about those “one-stop shopping” places, too! Our standard “line” after seeing a sign like that is to add “and septic tank service.”
Hope your day is good!
In NYC we don’t have roadside signs because we’re all (most of us anyway) walking. Every other restaurant & some retail shops have sidewalk sandwich boards proclaiming their goods. One recently seen in front of a restaurant:
TODAY’S SPECIAL
Pot Roast
Roast Pot
Carrots
Gravy
Happy Mother’s Day, Shelly!
“Roast Pot?” It sounds so 60s. I suppose they have “special brownies,” too?
You have a delightful weekend!
With a fifteen hour work-day ahead of me, I’ll catch up to y’all later! Yes, it’s 15 hours, but I’ll try to make them all “good.”
I love reading signs and finding the unique or double entendre among them. I once had a list of hair style place names from all over the country. Some creative folks out there. Wish I could find it. One of my favorites was Curl Up and Dye. Should have had the camera like you did!
.-= Spadoman´s last blog ..Only the Good Friday, May 7, 2010 =-.
Never fails. I should weld the camera to my hand
We get a kick out of roadside entertainment too. Some of the best are on church billboards.
We also get a kick out of headstones. “Patsy Tibbets – Cause of Death- The IRS” is on the top of my list of favorites.
.-= Sheila Atwood´s last blog ..How To Use Keywords To Rank High At Google =-.
Headstones are fun, too! You are right, by golly. Bless old Patsy … the IRS, eh? Instead of a headstone, I want a parking meter that says, “Expired.”
Love weird signs and the Burma Shave ones were classic. Naturally there is a whole web page dedicated to them http://www.fiftiesweb.com/burma1.htm
.-= Jamie´s last blog ..Globe Trotting =-.
Of course there had to be
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