American Sign Museum

Signs, signs, everywhere are signs.

Certainly this is the case at the American Sign Museum. Rooted in Cincinnati, Ohio, the American Sign Museum was an idea that came to fruition in 2005 under the helm of Tod Swormstedt, a magazine guru fulfilling a self professed mid-life crisis fantasy. With no stock but oodles of inspiration, the museum has grown into an unabashed Mecca of American nostalgia through something that guides us through our lives with little appreciation-signs.

From the moment a person enters, their eyes become a vehicle for an ocular vacation; picture Vegas under the night sky. A trip to another era ensues, as fluorescent words scream out to potential guests of the Sky Vu Motel that they have a vacancy. A stone’s throw away is a number of drugstores and shoemakers, with a Bob’s Big Boy, eternally smiling with his famous burger in hand, not too far for dinner. Of course, it wouldn’t be Anytown USA without good old fashioned commerce. Thankfully, vintage signage courtesy of such iconic American companies as Hudepohl Beer, Gulf Gasoline, and Alka Seltzer fill this void.

Just a flash sampling of some of the legendary artifacts that can be found at the American Sign Museum. The restored and immaculate signs are curated and cycled on a regular basis, as Swormstedt and his nonprofit shrine to America’s story continues to accrue devotees by the day. For every amazing chunk of history stored away at The Smithsonian, they seemed to have missed the boat on the importance of signage in American history; sturdy is the ship that sails at the American Sign Museum.