Tips for collecting vintage and antique signs

Some areas of sign production have been mechanized for a long time, at least in part. For example, silk screening is an old process, but the use of photo mechanical equipment to burn the screen is more recent.

But until the sign industry was revolutionized in the 1980's by sign-making computers, hand lettered signs were still a significant part of the graphics scene. For one of a kind jobs; storefront signs, truck lettering, and showcard signs, the sign company of choice was a "commercial shop." A commercial shop specialized in these types of individual jobs, as opposed to mass production runs.

As we preserve old hand-painted signs, we honor a talent pool that diminishes every day, and, more importantly, a type of American spirit that is fading too.

The signpainter of old was most likely a hard worker, a family man, and quite often, a real character. Sign painting attracted an artisitc and idividualistic personality type. A signpainter was usually not a "company man", a "team player", or particularly politically correct. My father used to tell about a friend of his, a gruff old sign guy, who responded to a customer's complaint about the price of a beautiful hand-lettered storefront sign by sawing the sign in half in front of the speechless buyer, and then reducing the price by half.

On an antique HAND LETTERED sign, you will notice that:

1. They are not perfect, and no two are exactly alike. There will be variations in height, stroke and spacing of letters. For example, a letter S will not be EXACTLY the same every time it appears, EVEN ON THE SAME SIGN. Look carefully at the letters S,C,and O. Those curved letters were the most difficult to execute. Sign painters used to refer to the skill of executing those letters as "swinging" the letter. For example, a talented sign painter would be said to "swing a beautiful S." Hand cut silk screens, used in silk screening before photo-mechanical reproduction, show the same variation in letters, especially the curved letters. If it's perfect, it's computerized. If there are more than one sign EXACTLY alike, they weren't lettered by hand.

2. You can see brush strokes. Hand lettered signs have a slightly raised and uneven feel due to variations of the thickness of paint, and brush strokes will be visible. This is a question to ask the seller, because this type of detail is not visible on the computer screen.

3. They are a standard size. Signmakers were very practical and used even cuts of materials to avoid waste. Plywood and metal were usually cut down in even sizes from 4 ft. x 8 ft.sheets, to 4 ft. x 4 ft. , 2 ft. x 4 ft. , 18 in. x24 in., 12 in x 9 in. etc. Full size showcards and poster boards are usually 28" x 44", so most showcard will be cut down from that, in sizes such as 22" x 28", 14" x 28", and 11" x 14" sizes. Standard paper sizes such as 8 1/2 in. x 11 in. were not relevant to the sign business.

4. They have aged naturally. There are MANY phony aging techniques in use. Acids and other chemicals are used to produce immediate fading and rust. Genuinely old signs do not fade evenly. This is because the sun affects different colors at varying rates. Red will fade before black, for example. Background colors were usually rolled on with thicker coats of paint , while letters were brushed on more thinly. They will fade differently.

5. The materials used, especially the background materials, were available and common to that period. For example, many old "metal" signs were steel. They rusted. A magnet will stick to them. Newer "metal" signs are usually a baked-on enamel finished aluminum. They don't rust, and have no magnetic charge.