Carvel, Dairy Queen and an Evil Clown: A tour of iconic New Jersey signs
Plus: A shuttered Arthur Treacher's reopens; a beloved Philadelphia sign is protected from getting "the boot"; and more headlines from the American roadside.
Recently, I had the pleasure of connecting with Jersey’s Best magazine. They wanted to showcase some of my photos that I’ve taken of iconic signs in the Garden State and they published the piece this past week. It’s great, if I do say so myself, so please give it a look here.
They write:
Best in Jersey is a themed photo gallery series from the Garden State taken by New Jersey’s most talented photographers. In this issue, we highlight retro signs and structures captured by Rolando Pujol.
I’m blushing over here. Thank you so much for the compliment!
The places they featured are below, with links to their locations on a map if you are curious about visiting for yourself. I’ve left notes on select locations, but for more details, make sure you visit the article in Jersey’s Best.
1.) WMCA-AM transmitter, Kearny, N.J.
Note: This is a difficult photo to get, not without its dangers. You have to park on the side of a narrow road, with no real protection from speeding traffic, and plunge into a tall, prickly thicket of weeds at the edge of the water. In other words, taking this photo is not for the faint of heart. I suggest instead enjoying my picture and staying safe and free of thorns jabbed into your bloody arms!
2.) Thunderbird Lanes, Wrightstown, N.J.
3.) Miami Shoes, West New York, N.J.
Note: This might be my favorite picture in this series for very personal reasons. My parents are in it, though they have no idea I captured them walking out after we made a nostalgic visit here back in 2019. This is the shop where in 1981, my parents bought the shoes for my First Communion, and those shoes still exist, in the loving collection of things my mother has saved from my childhood. Miami Shoes, I was delighted to discover, still sells a line of shoes for communions not unlike the pair I wore 42 years ago this May.
5.) Moonlight Lounge, Paterson, N.J.
Note: When I first shot this, I thought the Moonlight Lounge was closed, but it’s still in business. It’s a dazzling sign for sure, and has become a social-media darling, but the lounge itself alas had made the news for unfortunate reasons in recent years.
6.) Tommy’s and Jerry’s, Elizabeth, N.J.
Note: These dueling hot dogs stands seem to be a perfect setting for a new installment of the Tom and Jerry cartoon series.
7.) Wilson’s Carpet, Jersey City, N.J.
Note: Sopranos fan know this as one of the places Tony drives by while chomping on a cigar in the opening credits.
8.) Dairy Queen, Cranford, N.J.
9.) Tick Tock Diner, Clifton, N.J.
11.) McDonald’s, Magnolia, N.J.
12.) Frank’s Deli, Asbury Park, N.J
The beloved Boot & Saddle sign in Philadelphia has received historic protection
Philadelphia’s iconic Boot & Saddle sign was shining brilliantly when I visited in November 2020. As I described it at the time, however, “my visit was akin to attending a wake,” as its future was very much in doubt.
The venue at the time was a small bar called The Boot that had been open for seven years and whose owners had restored the sign. The business was shuttered because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The sign is happily shining again, and a new tenant has moved in, a coffee shop/bar/music venue named Solar Myth.
And that’s not the only sunny news — now the sign has been graced with a measure of legal protection, designated as historically significant by the Philadelphia Historical Commission, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer.
“It’s not hyperbole to say this is one of the very best examples of a commercial neon sign in the city that is still active and illuminated,” said Patrick Grossi, director of advocacy for the Preservation Alliance. “It’s undeniably an established and familiar feature on the South Broad Street corridor.”
The commission now has a significant say in the sign’s fate, and will strive to ensure it remains in good working order, unlike the almost 20 years in which it was dark after the original Boot & Saddle closed in 1995.
The sign now cannot be changed in any substantial way, not can it be destroyed without undergoing a review process. The building that the two-story sign is attached to has not been granted protection, however, and the owner could well decide one day to demolish the building, but would first have to come up with a “good faith” plan to save the sign, according to the Inky.
The sign dates to the venue’s original existence as a Western-themed bar. A new business, the music venue The Boot, as I mentioned earlier, commissioned the sign’s restoration almost a decade ago. That work was handled by the Neon Museum of Philadelphia (who outsourced fabrication to Urban Neon Sign, Lighting & Graphics Co.) As museum founder Len Davidson has explained, the sign was sketched on the South Philly kitchen table of Angelo Colivata Jr. back in the early 1960s, who with his brothers created the 20-foot-tall sign.
According to the website of the the now-closed museum:
The Boot’s out-of-scale components and almost cubist details (part of the boot’s front is depicted in side view), make this 20’ tall sign a one-of-a-kind masterpiece.
And it’s a masterpiece with better odds of survival now, after a period when it was looking pretty gloomy.
Number of Arthur Treacher’s standalone restaurants goes from 1 to 2
It’s not every day I get to share good news like this: The Arthur Treacher’s restaurant in Garfield Heights, Ohio, has reopened, two years after shuttering amid the pandemic.
This is big news, as it takes the number of existing Arthur Treacher’s standalone restaurants from just one to now a whopping two.
Cleveland.com has the story, and the details at this time are scant, but they confirm that the restaurant is back in business, and “just in time for Lenten season.”
The other remaining Arthur Treacher’s is in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, which I visited last summer and wrote about in the Instagram post, below.
I stopped by the Garfield Heights location in 2019. While it lacked the Arthur Treacher’s lantern sign – the Cuyahoga Falls store still has one – it does have a number of vintage touches, at least it did when I visited.
As I wrote a few years ago about the Garfield Heights store:
The dapper fellow whose visage greets you at the door is Arthur Treacher himself, a British actor who was born to play Jeeves the butler, and later gained renewed fame as second banana to talk show host and “Jeopardy!” creator Merv Griffin in the 1960s.
Treacher appeared in ads for the chain in the early days, and visited stores as well, but he died just as the chain’s star was soaring, in 1975.
Now, the chain has mainly retreated to Ohio – back to where it began. And even there, it continues to disappear. At one point, there were over 800 locations and the chain was thriving, but a rapid decline followed its peak in the late 1970s. I’ve never really liked fried fish, but as my mom and dad can tell you, I loved the hush puppies as a kid, and as an adult, when I sampled them again right here, I realized my ardor for them had not cooled. It was nice to go back one more time.
Note: Now, there are still several more Arthur Treacher’s locations that are affiliated with other restaurants as part of franchise agreements. But they are not proper, standalone Arthur Treacher’s restaurants.
If you visit, let me know how the Garfield Heights location looks! And check out the excitement about the news on the Garfield Heights Facebook page.
Related: Check out this former Arthur Treacher’s in Ohio that has serious 1970s vibes, which I shared with you in this earlier newsletter.
Coming Soon: A tour of Jimmy Carter’s hometown of Plains, Georgia
With news that former President Jimmy Carter is now in hospice care at his home, I am preparing a special tour of his hometown for readers of my newsletter.
Above, this iconic “Smiling Peanut” statue is an artifact of his 1976 campaign for president. It greets you outside a service station as you drive into Plains, Georgia, the town that doubles as a shrine to Mr. Carter and his presidency, and where he and his wife, Rosalynn, still live, in the modest ranch house they built for themselves in the early 1960s.
I visited Plains back in December, and as an aficionado of political history, small towns, and 1970s Americana, I can say that Plains is a unique place that’s hard to beat. Stay tuned for my post.
Notes From the Road
The Seven Seas Diner on Long Island is closing, and the co-owner, Jimmy Tsolis, summed up the reasons thusly for Newsday:
Operating a diner is just not a profitable business anymore, Tsolis said. Between labor costs, inflation and the lingering effect of the coronavirus pandemic, it's been more difficult than ever to keep the Seven Seas going. Over the years he's had to pare down his menu, which became so compact that it was literally printed on the paper tablemat next to the silverware. He also had to limit the hours of operation, closing earlier after coronavirus decimated his night crowd.
That’s a bracing answer, and an inescapable truth that’s going to lead to many more closures.
Amazing news! The sign for Sunken Gardens, an icon of St. Petersburg, Florida, has received a “vintage makeover,” and it has me planning a trip! [Action News]
A nice tour of 10 ghost signs in Brooklyn. How many of these have you been to? [Untapped Cities]
A short but sweet profile of four iconic signs in Atlanta. [Southern Online]
Have you made friends with people who share an interest in vintage signage, and have you discovered those friends on Instagram? (Many of you may well have found me on Instagram!) This article will resonate with you — it sure did with me. [Wired]
After 50 years, Mo’s Fullerton Music in the California city by that name is moving to smaller quarters. [Fullerton Observer]
Diner times! A visit to Brody’s Diner in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, and Wendy’s Diner in Cassville, New York. Plus, the B’Ville Diner in Baldwinsville, New York, returns to 24-hour service for the first time since the halcyon days before the pandemic.
San Pedro is getting a big archway sign, and here’s your chance to weigh in on what it should look like. Here’s a rare chance to build tomorrow’s nostalgia today if they get this right. [Daily Breeze]
The Ambassador Hotel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, has joined the Wyndham’s Trademark Collection of properties. The big scaffold neon sign atop the 1928 hotel is staying put. [OnMilwaukee]
The building thought to be America’s oldest surviving schoolhouse for Black children has been moved to Colonial Williamsburg. [Washington Post]
Shaquille O’Neal’s Big Chicken chain is growing quickly, and the next stop is Houston. [Eater]
If there’s one restaurant the people of Dayton, Ohio, seem to miss a lot, it’s the Grub Steak, according to this article that polled readers. They are soliciting more reader opinions. [Dayton Daily News] And here are the 10 “lost” places in Dayton the paper initially profiled.
A curious judge shares hidden history inside a Columbus, Ohio, courthouse. [WBNS]
Remember the heartbreaking closure of San Francisco’s grand Cliff House restaurant? The National Park Service has found a new operator for the property. [Eater SF]
Preservationists end fight to save partially demolished grain elevator in Buffalo, New York. [WGRZ]
Cabot’s Ice Cream & Restaurant in Newtown, Massachusetts, is being sold to a family that run a diner in town. [WCVB]
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The International Fiberglass statue in Jersey City is the Paul Bunyan model (with the wool cap). He likely held an axe originally, as the original Bunyans all did.
Oh - and the WMCA letters were "restored" with LED in December:
https://www.radioworld.com/columns-and-views/from-the-editor/wmcas-meadowlands-sign-is-lit-again