We spotted this marquee on the way to Jekyll Island. The Ritz Theatre, located within the "Old Town Brunswick" National Register Historic District, was built in 1898 to house the Grand Opera House, retail establishments, and the general offices of the Brunswick and Birmingham Railroad. Originally, the Grand Opera House, a three-story Victorian building featuring ornate brick and stone work, was built for the legitimate stage. Later, it served as a theatre for vaudeville.

In the 1930s, as motion pictures became the rage, the Opera House was converted into a movie palace. To give the building a more modern art deco look, the first-story brick work was covered with carrara glass, and an elaborate marquee and cascading sign were added. Thus, the Grand Opera House became the Ritz Theatre.

In 1980, the City of Brunswick purchased the Ritz, and again, the theatre was modernized and substantially altered; however, the Ritz sign was left intact. Under the management of the Golden Isles Arts and Humanities Association since 1989, the Ritz is returning to its roots. Recent "cosmetic surgery" has revealed parts of the original brickwork, storefronts, transoms, and glass, while live performances again grace the Ritz stage. Further restoration will offer space for artists' studios and classes on the second and third floors.

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On our way through Brunswick Georgia in the spring of 2001, we spotted this wonderful Art Deco Kresge Store. It appeared to be still in business! I was stunned.

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Flagler College is located on 19 acres in downtown St. Augustine, Florida. The campus centerpiece is the grand Ponce de Leon Hall, a former luxury resort hotel now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This masterpiece of Spanish Renaissance architecture was the dream of Henry Morrison Flagler, industrialist, oil magnate and railroad pioneer.

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The Lincoln Highway's most famous landmark is the Ship Hotel located in Bedford County, Pennsylvania. Before the full-size ship was constructed, the Allegheny Mountain curve housed a roadside stand offering refreshments to early motorists, and water to cool their engines. The architecture of the Grand View Point Hotel began as an open-aired castle courtyard; in 1932 it was transformed into the shape of a steamer ship. The Ship Hotel came complete with a dining room, living quarters, and observation decks to view the three states and seven counties from the Allegheny Mountainside. Some famous guests of the Ship were Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, J.P.Morgan, Will Rogers, John Barrymore, Joan Crawford, and Calvin Coolidge, just to name a few. Tourists and local residents ventured to the grand ship for dining and entertainment. The ship thrived through the 1930s, yet business drastically declined with the unveiling of the Pennsylvania Turnpike in 1940. The Paulson family sold the ship to Jack and Mary Loya in 1978. The new owners renamed the ship, Noah's Ark. Although the Ark has been closed for almost twenty years, today's motorists still stop to enjoy the breathtaking view atop the Allegheny Mountains. Today, there's not much to see at the site except "three states and seven counties" but, the memories of the Grand View Point linger on . . . memories of dining, dancing, ice cream cones, and spectacular views. You can bet if just one or two cars park along the Ship, in a matter of minutes there will be four or five cars, each sharing Ship stories.

All of the photos of the decrepit remains could not live up to my childhood memories, so I scanned in this post card instead. Maybe someone will restore this gem!

Alas, I received this from a reader:

"... The Ship hotel burned down in October 2001. So all that's left is the view. The Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor Association tried to buy it for $50,000 but the owner wouldn't sell it. Supposedly, he had no insurance. This was never verified. Believed to be arson as no one living in it at the time. What a loss. ..."

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These wonderful polychrome tile gas stations were synonymous with the Gulf Oil Company. At one time, they were nearly everywhere and are an icon of the "Gas Station" where you could actually get help with your car or directions. Smartly clad attendants in khaki uniforms (with bow ties!) would cheerfully offer to check your oil, wash your window and inflate your tires. How long has it been since you have even been able to talk to anyone at a gas station face to face?

We have travelled all over Pennsylvania and (to our knowledge) this is the last example of the classic Gulf gas station still in actual use. Gulf Oil merged with British Petroleum in 1983 --- because the brand name was so well established in Pennsylvania, they kept it mostly due to the indelible image left by these buildings. This is Dunkel's Gulf Station in Bedford, Pennsylvania

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Mass marketing and the influence of giant chains have all but eliminated the quirky roadside archictecture created by individual vision. This is a great example --- a building in the shape of a coffee pot. This acted as a beacon to weary travellers on Route 30 in Pennsylvania. This was a diner until the mid 1980s and then became a beer distributorship. It is now vacant. Perhaps someone will realize that there is a retro craze on and reopen it as a restaurant.

Update: August 2005!

One of our alert readers has noted that The Coffe Pot has been restored!!. The building has been moved across the street to the Bedford County Fairgrounds and is open to the public. The exterior has been given a stucco finish instead of the original scored concrete (to resemble bricks), but it looks very spry, indeed. Way to go, Bedford!

The Coffee Pot Is Back!
Saved from ruin!

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Our friend "Acme Ron" sent us this: "...It was originally called Goody Goody but later The Coffee Pot c.1932 to 1949 in Phoenix at 7th Street and McDowell St..."

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When I grew up in Pittsburgh, there was an Isaly's dairy store on practically every corner. The Isaly's chain had two specialties:

• Chipped Ham: This is pressed ham (don't ask what's in it...) that is sliced one molecule thin and piled on Braun's Town Talk white bread that has been slathered with mayonnaise and topped with yellow American cheese and a tomato slice. Chipped ham was one of the four major food groups in Pittsburgh during the 1950s.
• Skyscraper Cones: The Isaly's Dairy made unusually rich ice cream and they shipped it in metal tins. An enterprising fountain attendant discovered that you could dip a big serving spoon into the tins and create a "dip" of ice cream that was six inches tall. This "mountain" of ice cream was irresistable to children. The favorite flavors were "White House" (vanilla with whole maraschino cherries) and "Maricopa" (vanilla with chunks of butterscotch.

The Isaly's chain went bankrupt in the 1980s. Several individual owners have kept their stores open and try very hard to keep things authentic. This one, located in West View, a suburb of Pittsburgh is particularly well kept and has all the feel of a "real" Isaly's, even down to the plastic parsley that decorated all the lunch meats in the cooler.

The owner also has a great display of artifacts from West View Park, a wonderful "End-of-Trolley-Line" amusement park. I learned to dance at Danceland, the ballroom at the park that corresponds roughly to the role that the Spanish Ballroom played at Glen Echo.

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This is the exterior of Gayheart's Drug Store in Culpeper, Virginia. This is the among very last of the drug stores with a functioning lunch counter. We only know of four others, located in Fredricksburg, Woodstock, Remington, and Warrenton. The latter two are technically "re-creations", and the Fredricksburg and Woodstock stores do not serve full meals. Thus, Gayheart's stands alone: Courteous service, comfort food, and low prices.

In the 1940s, the Drug Store was the most common place for ordinary Americans to eat an "away-from-home" lunch. Sort of like the passenger pigeon, the common, everyday experience of having an egg salad sandwich and a cherry coke at the lunch counter of the Rexall Pharmacy has almost completely faded from existence. If you value recreating the 1940s or 1950s, you really owe yourself a trip to Culpeper. Get there at about 11:30 and have the egg salad. Save room for a pineapple sundae. Gals, wear a tight sweater and pretend that you are Lana Turner waiting to be discovered at Schwab's

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This is a VERY nice example of 1940s neon sign art that advertises Baby Jim's Snack Bar in Culpeper, Va. I only wish that the food was as great as the sign! This seems to follow a trend that I have noted in Southern Barbecue places --- they seem to delight in showing happy little pigs serving barbecue...

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This is the McCoy Grand Theater on Main Street in Moorefield, West Virginia. A landmark in Moorefield, the theater originally opened in 1928. Reopened in 1989 as a community museum and arts center with two show rooms and a 240-seat restored theatre, the McCoy-McMechen Museum Theater hosts four season events annually as well as community and local performances.

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It is my understanding that the folks from Bloch Brothers have decided to stop painting the famous "Chew Mail Pouch Tobacco" signs on barns. Sensing that this is the end of another era, I stopped to take this picture somewhere near Berkeley Springs, West Virginia.

I have gradually learned a lot about this unusual form of advertising. A crew of painters did the signs. They painted the slogan on the side of a willing farmer's barn in exchange for a choice of several things, such as cash, magazine subscriptions, or of course, a hefty supply of Mail Pouch chewing tobacco. Another popular option was that the farmer could have the rest of his barn painted.

"The last living Mail Pouch painter, Harley Warrick, joined the crew when he returned from service in World War II. The crew happened to be at his parents farm painting a sign on their barn, and they needed an extra pair of hands. Mr. Warrick joined them on the spot. Warrick estimates that he painted or repainted over 20,000 barns and signs throughout his career. Retired, he now lives in Belmont, Ohio with his wife, where he spends time painting birdhouses and mailboxes in his workshop

One apocryphal story concerns the man who owns the Buckeye Candy and Tobacco Company in Bucyrus, Ohio. Warrick bet the unsuspecting owner a steak dinner that he could paint the Mail Pouch slogan on the side of his business in a mere afternoon. The skeptical owner took him up on the bet, and lost! It usually took Warrick about four hours to paint the side of a building. He also said that his first 1,000 or so signs looked like he'd painted them with his feet, but eventually he got the hang of it.

At one time there were more than 10,000 of these landmarks dotting the countryside in the Midwest (and a few along the West Coast), but now less than half remain. Unfortunately for enthusiasts such as myself, this number grows smaller every day as the old barns succumb to time and the elements. Many are torn down, while others simply fall down or are brought down by high winds or tornadoes. Eventually there will be no Mail Pouch signs as Warrick has retired and long ago gave up trying to hire a replacement. A few interested young men gave it a crack, but none stuck with it. Another hindrance is the tax placed on advertising for any billboards or signs within a certain distance from the highway. According to Warrick, the company which produces Mail Pouch is unwilling to pay this steep tax to continue the advertising."

For those of you who are STILL interested, here are a few more websites:

• Chasing Mail Pouch Barns
• Mail Pouch -- 100+ Years
• To bacciana
• Bygone Signs
• Bloch Brothers' 75th Anniversary
• Beacon Journal Extra
• The Four Seasons of Driving

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