2023 EB Day 17 - Signs Of The Past

Dennis Bringuet is the last of the old school signwriters who used a brush in the family's Ace Sign Company...

But their big claim to fame is skill with neon.

Dennis explained the 'art'... only 300 or so companies remain in USA, that's only an average of half a dozen or so per state.

Their sign collection is a veratable who's who of the best tube and advertising 'gimmicks' on the route.

The 1933 Chev taxi cab even has some of his grandfather's handiwork on it.

The city's welcome sign is also an Ace Sign.

No gas for sale in Williamstown...

...so we moved on to Elkhart, paralleling the interstate.

In Lincoln we find someone's 'stolen' the world's largest Abe Lincoln...

or perhaps he's just fallen off the wagon?

Friend and former corrections officer Dave Petty wasn't sure either, suggesting a recent tornado...

...though he was sure about the coffee downtown - easily the best on the road.

Across the town square is the famous phone booth on the city hall roof...

while nearby is the equally famous watermelon monument, erected in Lincoln's honour when he was a lawyer in town!

Another famous name slipped through Lincoln back then... usually in the dead of night heading to and from Chicago. Al Capone allegedly had a secret drop box in this old gas station and Dave explained some of the tales behind it.

So too the story about the top of the local university roof which was whipped off in a tornado and unceremoniously dropped several blocks away.

In Atlanta it seems there are more giants. Muffler Men, as they started life were monster size advertisements for car mufflers but over time morphed into selling hotdogs and other items of interest along the road.

And that road is where other routers (as they're known!) are on their own journey of discovery. The Mustang convertible seems the most identifiable car of choice!

Funks Grove is the southern most point sirup (yes, the spelling is correct) can be extracted from maple trees (it's a climate thing!) and we learned first hand all about it.

A quirky find nearby in amongst the trees is a short drive and a preserved historic (or perhaps pre historic) gas pump stop. Once again Route 66 highlighting the breadth and depth of experiences found on the Main Street of America.

Our American history was expanded at David Davis Mansion where we learn about the connection and influence this former US Supreme Court Judge had on the country's most famous president.

Bloomington is home for our penultimate day on the road and we celebrate at Epiphany Farm restaurant, delivered in a style unlike our steads of the past couple of weeks.