The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1897-07-08
SIGNS CARRIED BY MEN.
Some of the More Familiar Among Them
and Some of the Curiosities.

Some of the More Familiar Among Them
and Some of the Curiosities.
The walking sandwich, the man
between two billboards slung around
the neck and hanging, one in front,
the other behind, is not seen so much
as he was. He was the most pictur-
esque of all the walking sign car
riers, and he was at one time the
most commonly seen. His decline is
doubtless due 20 a belief that an ele-
waited sign, one carried above the
head line, is of greater utility The
sandwich man was striking when
you met him, but in a crowd you
might miss him altogether; the ele-
waited sign, carried above the heads
of the people, is expected to be seen
by all, and in one form and another
it is now the sign most commonly
carried.
There are, however, still some
signs besides sandwich boards that
are carried below the head line.
Of these the most familiar is the
coat sign, a coat with sign painted
upon it, worn by men who may per-
haps remain near the establishment
to which they belong, or who walk
about. There is at'least one man in
New York who has worn a sign coat
"a canvas coat in dry weather, a
rubber coat in wet, with the same
sign painted ON each-daily for
years. Wearing a sign coat is as
much his regular occupation as
writing is the occupation of the man
who writes this brief article about
signs that are carried.
There is another sign carried be-
low the head-the valise sign, which
scarcely comes within the purview
of this article, for the reason that
the carrier of the valise sign is in
costume, and signs SO carried by
men whose curious outfit is relied
upon to attract attention form
group by themselves. Still, perhaps
mention may be made of the valise
sign here. 1t is painted upon the fiat
side of an old fashioned alligator
mouth valise, whose carrier walks
about the street, visiting at intervals
the store whence he comes. Pausing
there for q moment on the side
walk, he looks up intently at the
sign over the door and then enters
in, sallying forth again. Presently
he starts on another round.
Another form of portable sign
which depends in a measure upon
the manner in which it is brought
to the attention, though it's carriers
are not in uniform, is the painted
block. The sign is painted upon the
sides of block of wood of about
the shape and size of small dress
suit case, and has handle at the
top. Such signs, to the number of
four or five, are carried by two boys,
who, to begin with, set them down
upon the curbstone Is to 20 feet
apart. Then they begin moving the
blocks one at a time from rear to
front along the curbstone. The rear
boy picks up his block and carries
it along the sidewalk past the other
blocks and puts it down upon the
curbstone 20 feet ahead Of the first
block and then goes back for anoth-
er. On the way to the rear he meets
the other boy going to the front
with a block which he will put
down in the same manner, and SO
they keep going, forever picking up
the last block and carrying it to the
front and setting it down at the
head and so working along the
street.
Between the signs carried below
the head and those carried above it
there are. some that are carried on
or about the head. There is, for in
stance, the tall hat sign, which the
carrier wears, with the sign paint
ed upon it or painted upon some
thing attached to it. Carried at
night is the electric hat sign, with
light from lamps fed by storage
battery shining through letters per-
forated in tall hat. The illumina-
ton can be turned on or off at the
will of the wearer of the hat as he
walks. A day sign carried about the
head is in the form of Transparent
cy, the lower part of the frame rest
ing upon the carriers shoulders. =
New York Sun.