What's past is prologue - the historic importance of public signage

"What's Past is Prologue" series, an homage to William Shakespeare's "The Tempest", looks at events of the past that seem to reoccur later with remarkable similarities. Frank Nickell of the Kellerman Foundation for Historic Preservation, previously a longtime faculty member at Southeast Missouri State University, is primary historian for these articles, which are carried intermittently in the Southeast Missourian.

Sign, sign, everywhere a sign

Blockin' out the scenery

Breakin' my mind

Do this, don't do that

The original "Hollywood" wooden sign was built 100 years ago as a temporary advertisement. In 1978, it was replaced with an all-steel structure.Courtesy unsplash.com

The original "Hollywood" wooden sign was built 100 years ago as a temporary advertisement. In 1978, it was replaced with an all-steel structure.Courtesy unsplash.com

Can't you read the sign?

"Signs" by Five Man Electrical Band, 1971.

Signs, placards, banners and billboards are seemingly everywhere, and arguably no country is more invested in such public messaging than is the United States.

Take a drive almost anywhere in Southeast Missouri, and it will not be long before a sign appears in your windshield, imploring a motorist to purchase a good or a service.

With the advent of the Internet, signage has migrated to more private spheres, most notably cyberspace.

"St. Louis was one of the first cities in America to become a center of advertising promotion because of the desire to attract people from across the Mississippi into Missouri," said local historian Frank Nickell.

Early days

Nickell recalled growing up in central Illinois and seeing sequence slogan signs.

"Many people of a certain age will recall roadway signs for Burma Shave cream beginning in the mid-1920s, which featured rhyming poems in the days before interstate highways," said Nickell.

"Those signs were clever and powerful, one sign after another, all building on a theme. I remember one message spread across several placards in sequence -- 'Take it slow. Let the little shavers grow, Burma Shave.'"

Interstates

With the rise of the interstate highway system in the 1950s allowing for motorists to travel at higher speeds, billboards became more popular, leading to a legislative effort to place a measure of control over their proliferation.

In 1965, Congress passed the Highway Beautification Act, which called for controls on outdoor advertising, including removal of certain types of signs along America's interstate system, including Interstate 55, which runs for more than 210 miles in Missouri.

The act restricted the size, spacing and lighting of roadside billboards, allowed the masking of junkyards or garbage dumps to preserve roadside beauty and the authorized use of the federal Highway Trust Fund revenue for landscaping and recreation services within the right-of-way.

Anniversary

The iconic "Hollywood" sign in Los Angeles is 100 years old this year.

Originally made of wood and erected before Hollywood became globally known for the movie-making industry, the seminal $21,000 sign originally read "Hollywoodland" and was intended to advertise a real estate development.

Public access to the sign has been restricted since the 1932 suicide of actress Peg Entwistle, who jumped to her death from atop the "H" on the sign at the age of 24.

The current sign was erected in 1978 with 50-foot-wide by 30-foot-tall sheet metal letters supported by a steel framework.

Municipalities

Many local governments have included signage restrictions and policies in their code of ordinances.

In the City of Cape Girardeau, Article 5, Section 25, reads "The purpose of this section is to protect the safety and orderly development of the community through the regulation of signs and sign structures."

In Jackson, Article 2, Section 55, has the following language: "All the streets in the city shall be designated by signs placed conspicuously at their intersections at such heights as may be ordered by the board of aldermen."

In June 2015, a U.S. Supreme Court decision invalidated the sign law in Gilbert, Arizona, as an unconstitutional restriction on speech.

Dutchess County, New York's Planning Federation, citing the high court's Gilbert decision, wrote in a 2016 newsletter, "as a result (of Gilbert), municipal sign laws through the country should be reevaluated to determine if they pass constitutional muster".

Coda

"When you think of all the outdoor slogans on signs, whether for advertising or politics, all you really need to be effective is a message that will captivate the imagination. This is what good signs do. They are important points of connection on the American landscape," Nickell said.