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Louisiana Signs (page 1)

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Kelvinator
Abbeville, LA		 Weiss & Goldring
Alexandria, LA
This Kelvinator sign is probably from the 1950s. The appliance store below has been closed for many years. [map]

Weiss & Goldring opened its first department store in Many, LA in 1899. A few years later, the business moved to Alexandria. I believe this sign is from the early 1950s when the store moved to a downtown location at 3rd & DeSoto, as shown on the bottom of the sign. In 2007, this sign was moved to the business' location in the Alexandria Mall. The store focuses on men's clothing now. [map]

Hokus Pokus Liquor
Alexandria, LA
Hokus Pokus Liquor was established in 1940. I believe this was their first location. The sign which depicts a flying ghost is probably from the 1950s. It was built by the Craig Sign Company. This store has been closed for years but the sign and the bottle facade remain. There are other operating locations, some which feature ghosts, but this is the only vintage sign. [map]

former Happy Trails Lounge
Alexandria, LA
2007: 2019:
There's not much left of the Happy Trails Lounge sign. The bottom part of the bow-shaped panel was gone by 2013. This sign probably advertised originally for Uncle Sam's Cocktail Lounge which was there in the 1950s. [map]

More Alexandria:
Bentley Hotel [map]

Lee's City Drug
Bastrop, LA		 Florida Boulevard Washateria
Baton Rouge, LA		 Ten Flags Inn
Baton Rouge, LA		 former Southside
Motor Exchange [gone]
Baton Rouge, LA
Lee's City Drug opened at this location in 1952. This sign is probably from then. [map]

The Florida Boulevard Washateria sign is probably from the 1950s. The place is still in business. [map]

The Ten Flags Inn sign is probably from the 1950s or 1960s. There were surely flags on the poles next to the sign originally. [map]

The Southside Motor Exchange is gone but this sign remains. However, it is now in very bad shape. This photo is from 2006. By 2011, the neon engine graphic at the top had been removed or destroyed. The paint on the sign has faded considerably now and "Exchange" has been painted over. [map]

Fleur de Lis Cocktail Lounge
Baton Rouge, LA
The Fleur de Lis Cocktail Lounge had opened by 1946. The neon tubing was installed by that time. When the place added pizza in the early 1950s, it was such a hit that it eventually was renamed Fleur de Lis Pizza. I don't know when the "Roman Pizza" neon was added to the facade. For more, see these websites: 1 and 2. [map]

Coca-Cola
Baton Rouge, LA
2010: 2019:

The origins of this Coca-Cola sign are not clear. According to one source, there was a Jax Beer sign here originally. The support structure may later have been used for this sign which was built around 1946. According to other accounts, this sign was installed on the roof of the Liggett Rexall Drug store building which opened here in 1951. The sign was definitely in place by 1960. The drug store closed around 1981 but the sign has remained in place. It was refurbished in the mid-1980s and again in 2002. The sign's neon tubing is vulnerable to hurricanes.

In 2002, it was reported that this sign was one of three left in the country. This statement was repeated in later news articles. However, while there are a few vintage neon Coca-Cola signs on display in Atlanta, San Francisco, Richmond, and elsewhere, none of them resemble this sign. Another source reports that there was a sign in Hollywood, CA like the one in Baton Rouge. However, vintage photos reveal that it was not at all the same design. The Baton Rouge sign may have been unique.

The sign is about 20 feet wide. The stripes on the sign are lit from bottom to top. Then, the text flashes sequentially this this order: Drink, Coca-Cola, Pause, and Refresh. In 2014, the local Coca-Cola Bottling Co. paid for the sign's latest restoration which cost about $20,000. At that time, the building began housed a Raising Cane's restaurant. The building now houses Helix Community Schools. For more, see these websites: 1 and 2. [map]

Overpass Cleaners
Baton Rouge, LA		 Masonic Lodge
Baton Rouge, LA		 Kean's
Main St. [gone]
Baton Rouge, LA		 Kean's
Perkins Rd. [gone]
Baton Rouge, LA
The porcelain enamel Overpass Cleaners text panels appear to be from the 1950s. I don't know if the channel bulb panels were built then or added later. This photo is from 2010. The business closed around 2016. The building now houses a hardware store but the sign remains. [map]

The Masonic Lodge sign is composed of backlit stained glass panels. This is very rare for Masonic signs. Apparently, when the "Tonight" panel was lit with whatever corresponding chapter below was meeting that night. [map]

The Kean's dry cleaning business was founded in Baton Rouge in 1900. The company now has about six locations in the Baton Rouge area. This sign at the Main St. location was gone by 2022.

By 2014, the rooftop sign at the Perkins Rd. location was gone. Since 2015, the building has housed a Crispy Catch restaurant.

Peter's Grocery & Liquor
Bossier City, LA
2007: 2019:
The bottle sign at Peter's Grocery & Liquor appears to be from the 1950s. The bottle had a much more realistic paint job originally and read "Beer Wines" at the bottom. The "Peter's" panel is probably much more recent. For more, see this website. [map]

Thrifty Liquor
Bossier City, LA
This Thrifty Liquor sign is probably from the 1950s. There are other locations but I don't believe they have vintage signs. [map]

Bossier High School
Bossier City, LA
This Bossier High School sign is installed on the corner of the property of a Wingate by Wyndham hotel which was built around 2012. It functions as a directional sign since the high school is actually three blocks away. It doesn't appear that the porcelain panels ever had neon. The sign might be from 1970 as per the text reference on the panels. [map]

More Bossier City:
Holiday Lanes
Revana Restaurant: 1, 2 [map]
Yum Yum Malt Shop [vintage; gone]

Breaux Bridge:
Simon's Pharmacy [gone]

Denham Springs:
Amite Baptist Church

Harmony Lodge
Eunice, LA		 Louis Wright
Eunice, LA
The Harmony Lodge, a Masonic Lodge, was chartered in 1923. This sign is probably from the 1950s. [map]

Louis Wright was a clothing store, established in 1911. The store closed in 2009 but the sign remains. It was probably built in the 1950s. [map]

Gonzales Motel
Gonzales, LA		 Cafe 615 Home of Da Wabbit
Gretna, LA
The Gonzales Motel sign is probably from the 1950s. [map]

Cafe 615 Home of Da Wabbit opened as the Da Wabbit Drive-in in 1949. This sign is probably from then. It has been Cafe 615 since the early 2000s. [map]

Greenwood:
Derrick Truck Stop

Toggery Shop
Hammond, LA		 Cafe
Hammond, LA		 Livingston Lodge
Hammond, LA		 former Johnny Rizzo Furniture [gone]
Houma, LA		 People's Drugs
Houma, LA
The Toggery Shop opened in the 1930s. In 1947, a fire destroyed the building's facade. It was rebuilt and this sign is from then. The business closed in 2002 but this sign remains. For more, see this website. [map]

This Cafe sign is supposedly a restored, vintage sign. It appears to be a replica to me. There has not been a cafe below the sign since at least 2007. [map]

The Livingston Lodge Masonic Temple sign was built in the 1980s. It was taken down in 2007 and restored. There was originally a backlit glass globe sign on the building. [map]

The Johnny Rizzo Furniture store was closed when this photo was taken in 2010. By 2013, the sign was gone.

The People's Drugs store opened as Theriot Pharmacy around 1940. I don't know when the signs were replaced. For more, see these websites: 1 and 2. [map]

White Star Cleaners
Houma, LA		 White Star Cleaners
Labadieville, LA
These White Star Cleaners might have been part of a chain or at least these two locations had the same owner. The Sputnik ball used with the Houma sign were mass-produced in the 1960s. By 2022, that was gone and the neon tubing was broken, apparently, all the result of a hurricane. [Houma map]; [Labadieville map]

There was at least one other White Star Cleaners in Baton Rouge. There was possibly another one in Thibodaux.

Burger Barn
Jena, LA
These Burger Barn sign is probably from the 1960s or 1970s. A barn-shaped building was built in 1964 for a Dairy Queen. That business later became the Burger Barn. The building was destroyed by a fire in 2014. A barn-roofed canopy was built closer to the Brisket House on the same lot. [map]

Jennings:
More Mileage Station

Louisiana
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