PRESERVATION 

BRIEFS 

The Preservation of Historic Signs 

Michael J. Auer 

u.s. Department of the Interior 

National Park Service 

Cultural Resources 

Preservation Assistance 

"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. 

1. Detail from a busy Chicago street market, about 1905. The sign over the 

sidewalk depicts a fish . It also gives the Hebrew letters for the English words 

"Fish Market. " The sign offers information about the people who patronized 

the store that is not available from looking at the buildings. They were 

European Jews who were beginning to learn English. Chicago Historical 

Society, negative number ICHi-19155. 

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. 
______ .L----l----..... 

-' - _._,_.- -" -

2. N. Main Street, Rockford, Illinois, 1929. Signs give a wealth of information about a particular time and place. Photo: Lake County (IL) Museum, Curt Teich 

Postcard Archives. 

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 

2 

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.) 
b 

3. (a) Once commonplace, the three balls symbolizing the pawnbroker are 

now rare. These date from the 1920s (the supports are much more recent, as 

is the storefront to which they are attached). (b) Objects associated with a 

business continue to be used as signs. Photos: Thomas C. Jester. 

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. 

4. This circa 1866 view of a San Francisco building shows the range of signs 

used in the nineteenth century: Symbolic signs (the spectacles over the 

entrance); fascia signs; plaques, often in the shape of shields and normally 

used by insurance companies, in part to symbolize the protective function of 

insurance; posters, wall signs, window signs, hanging signs, and rooftop 

signs. Photo: Library of Congress. 

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 450 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. 

3 
Porcelain enamel signs were also very popular in the latter half of the nineteenth century and into the midtwentieth 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 simpleoften 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 

4 

5. Painted figures and lines of text cover this building in New York City, 

about 1890. The woman is distributing handbills. The painted workman on 

the ladder is putting up a poster. Altogether the signs are striking examples 

of the signmaker's art in the late nineteenth century. Photo: Courtesy of the 

New-York Historical Society, New York City. 

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. 

6. This view of Cleveland taken about 1910 shows how electricity transformed American cities. These dramatic and highly visible signs no doubt 

provided excellent advertising for 'ft & W Electric Signs. " Its signs-at the 

bottom of the photograph-also proclaim the company to be the "exclusive 

agents" for a maker of "electric on enamel signs. " Photo: Library of 

Congress. 

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. 

7. In the 1930s and 1940s, signs built into storefronts became popular. This 

example is from Guthrie, Oklahoma. Photo: H. Ward Jandl. 

8. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the country turned its attention to 

outer space. Wings, fins, and satellite shapes appeared, as in this example in 

Long Beach, California. Photo: Peter Phillips. 

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. 

5 
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 

6 

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. 

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. 

9. Signs are often popular neighborhood landmarks. This is one in Butte, 

Montana. Photo: Jet Lowe, HAER. 
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 

10. This fading sign was painted in Baltimore in 1931 or 1932. It survives 

from the campaign to enact the 21st Amendment to the United States Constitution, which repealed Prohibition. Such fading brick wall signs are 

known as "ghost signs. " Photo: Thomas C. Jester. 

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 

a 

b 

11. (a) Signs for Bull Durham Tobacco once covered walls all over the country. (b) Similarly, Simple Simon and the Pie Man appeared on Howard 

Johnson signs nationwide. This one has been moved to a shop for repair. 

Photos: (a) Jack Boucher, HABS; (b) Len Davidson. 

7 
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). 

12. The sign on this historic building gives important information about its 

past. Photo: Thomas C. Jester. 

13. Historic signs were often built into a property-and often under foot. 

Photo: Richard Wagner, National Trust for Historic Preservation. 

8 

• 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 longterm preservation. Sign maintenance involves periodic 

inspections for evidence of damage and deterioration. 

14. This Ogden, Utah, sign is a superb example of neon. Photo: deTeel 

Patterson Tiller. 

15. The sign for the Busy Bee Cafe is well-known throughout Dubuque, 

Iowa. Photo: National Park Service, Rocky Mountain Regional Office. 
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. 

a 

b 

c 

16. (a) The Jayhawk Hotel in Topeka, Kansas, was built in 1926; (b) Its 

prominent and popular rooftop signs were deteriorating when the hotel 

closed; (c) The new owners converted the building to offices, but were able to 

keep the historic signs by changing "HaJEL" to "WWER. " The new, 

repaired, signs reuse three of the historic letters: 1; 0, and E. Photos: (a and 

b) Kiene and Bradley; Courtesy, Kansas State Historical Society; (c) Kansas 

State Historical Society. 

9 
10 

a 

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 direet 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 touch-up 

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 

b 

e 

g 

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 

(continued next page) 

f 

17. Glen Echo Park near Washington, D. c., is an early 20th century amusement park. (It is the home of the first bumper car ride in the world.) Its neon signs 

needed repair: (a) tubes were broken and the surrounding "metal cans" needed work also; (b) and (c) remaval of the back of "Candy Comer" sign revealed debris 

from insects and birds; (d) preparing the "metal cans" from the "Pop Com" sign for remounting; (e) and (f) neon fabricators installing the new tubing in the repaired and remounted cans; (g) repairs finished, the relit signs enliven the park once again. Photos: (a-c) Stan Fowler; (d-f) Larry Kanter; (g) Rebecca Hammel. 
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 

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 his-

"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 Iowa 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 neons signs is 

not a matter for amateurs (Fig. 17). 

toric 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). 

18. Sign painters pausing from their work, 1932. Photo: Courtesy, Cumquat 

Publishing Co. and Tettaton Sign Co., St. Louis, Missouri. 

11 
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 SpouterInn:-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). 

Cover photograph: Terra cotta wheel with Studebaker banner, 1926, Lakewood, Ohio. Photo: Frank Wrenick. 

NOTES 

I 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. 

12 

3 Rudi Stem, Let There Be Neon. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc. 1979, p. 19. 

, See Robert Venturi, Denise Scott Brown, and Steven Izenour, Learning from 

Las Vegas. Rev. ed. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1977. 

, 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. 

• 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. 66-71. 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. 56-59. 

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; Tunothy Pugh, the Porcelain Enamel Institute; William Adair, Goldleaf 

Studios. 

This publication has been prepared pursuant to the National Historic 

Preservation Act of 1966, as amended, which directs the Secretary of 

the Interior to develop and make available information concerning 

historic properties. Preservation Brief 25 was developed under the 

editorship of H. Ward Jandl, Chief, Technical Preservation Services. 

Comments on the usefulness of this publication may be directed to 

Chief, Technical Preservation Services Branch, Preservation Assistance Division, National Park Service, P.O. Box 37127, Washington, 

D.C. 20013-7127. 

October 1991