If you’ve ever taken the F train into Brooklyn, you’ve probably seen the Eagle Clothes sign that rises into the sky over the corner of Third Avenue and Sixth Street. You probably have some memory of some wonderful drunken summer evening when you walked home through Gowanus, looked up, and hoped that one day the neon sign would just light up right before your eyes. Sadly, that dream will never come true, as the sign is slated to be taken down later this week, once again altering the old Brooklyn skyline in the name of progress.
Even if you’ve never been to Brooklyn, you’ve no doubt known a neon sign like the Eagle Clothes one; some remnant of another time, a signifier of an industry that has long since moved on or gone away, or simply a reminder of the way people and companies once let the world know that this is where people once worked. Here are some of the most memorable examples from across the country.
Sam the Record Man, Toronto, ON (We know this isn’t America, but we couldn’t not include this picture.)
Milk Jug, Independence, Missouri [via Neato Coolville]
Cleveland, OH
Living Waters Spa, Desert Hot Springs, CA
James Furniture & Appliance Co., Newport, TN [via Flickr]
Grain Belt Beer, MN
Waylan’s Ku-Ku Hamburgers, Miami, Oklahoma
Made in Oregon sign, Portland, OR
Magikist, Chicago, IL
The Travelers Insurance umbrella, Des Moines, IA
Schrafft’s, Boston, MA
Fruit Fair, Chicopee, MA [via Flickr]
Tuscon, AZ
Pat’s King of Steaks, Philadelphia, PA
Dunkin’ Donuts, Boston, MA
Yale Grill & Gifts, Houston, Texas [via Molly Block Flickr]
Crockett, TX
Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL
Smith’s Furniture, Louisville, Kentucky [via Flickr]
Beaumont, TX. [via Flickr]
Martinsville, IN
Hoboken, NJ [via Flickr]
Buffalo Bill’s, Las Vegas
Fox Theatre, Detroit, MI
Biltmore Hotel, Atlanta, GA
Hartford, CT
Bexley, OH
Atlanta, GA
Domino Sugar, Brooklyn, NY
Natty Boh, Baltimore, MD
Kentile Floors, Brooklyn, NY
Memphis, TN