Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion Highway Signs

I seem to recall that there was an Oldgas discussion on real vs. repop highway signs, but can't find it. Does anyone know if these signs should have raised letters/numbers, or painted on flat sheet metal? Typical size? Guessing that there may have been variations through the years. Thanks, Dave

The oldest shields were roughly 16" in both dimensions. Different variations, with or without US, different fonts, colors, and with or without embossing depend on both state and year. I recall seeing the one pictured on ebay recently.

I also seem to recall that Kansas had some shields that weren't embossed. Norm (cmeon66) can probably weigh in on this because I think he has one.

There are embossed reproductions out there that look old, and even have artifically faded and surface-rusted finishes. Some purport to have been made by a movie set artist. There are still minute differences that experinced collectors can probably point out to you. Like it is with most antiques these days, reproducers are ruining that hobby for future generations by selling unmarked reproductions.

Wes

It's the same with all collectables.
The ones that collect Originals don't want to see any Reproductions.

The guys that buy Reproductions want them to look just like the originals they can't afford.

Dick hit the nail on the head there!

Keep in mind Dick some can afford them... they would rather just buy a repop.

nebrgas you are right there are many different styles, shapes & sizes of these signs even for the same year...i have round, square, shield shaped, embossed, flat & painted, porcelain, jeweled, cast pot metal etc. etc......here are a few different ones i own......The last one is a repo cast pot metal with jewels supposedly made for a movie set "Route 66"..........

Nice signs, roadrelics. I do a little road sign collecting also. My collection is small compaired to other road sign collectors.

wow great signs Matt....as you can see nebrgas there are many styles & shapes.........

Looks like I need to take to take a few pictures of my road signs to post.

In looking at the sign made for the old show Route 66, did any of the original signs actually say Route 66? The only ones I've seen have a state name and just a 66 or maybe US 66.

...photo off of eBay, thought it would be of interest...a buddy of mine has a copy of this and I always thought it was cool...

that's the one i have. the back has a small stamp that says "california dept of highways"

...v-e-r-y very cool - but it looks like the one on the album has a thicker outline, and some logo or insignia on the bottom of the shield...can't quite make it out...it's definitely very close, though...probably no more than a year or two apart...

the 66 on the album does indeed have the thicker outline, logo, and wider numbers and larger reflectors. Here is a photo of a US-60 on which you can see the logo more clearly:

http://shields.aaroads.com/show.php?image=CA19520601t200600.jpg&search=60

it is the Cal Division of Highways logo, used on signs between 1947 and 1956. The US-66 and US-60 are of a style made between 1952 and 1956.

the 66 that Derailer posted is a style made in 1956 and 1957. No logo, but still porcelain with button reflectors. Here is another one:

http://shields.aaroads.com/show.php?image=CA19560661t200660.jpg&search=66

and here is a 99 like it:

http://shields.aaroads.com/show.php?image=CA19560991t200990a.jpg&search=99

of the signs RoadRelics posted: the ARIZ./US/66 and the ROUTE/66 are both replicas. Here are some examples of US 66 signs from Arizona. Note that they always spelled out the state name. The ARIZ/66 with buttons is another replica.

http://shields.aaroads.com/thumbs.php?state=AZ&search=66

the New Mexico state route 65 is from between 1948 and 1953. It features a Scotchlite reflective background on the circle behind the number "65" so that the number stands out at night.

the Iowa US 30 is cast iron and is from 1926 to 1934. The cast iron shields were dang near indestructible, and often times the highway department took them down, repainted them, and put them back up! I have an Iowa US 20 that shows evidence of field repainting at least 3 times. The signs survived as late as 1975, despite the fact that 1934 was the last year they made any new ones. During the Depression they went to embossed steel, which cost significantly less (but of course didn't last as long!)

the Vermont US 302 on the black square is from between 1955 and 1960. There is one like it still out there in the wild - a US-2 in the town of Middlebury. It has Scotchlite reflective sheeting.

http://shields.aaroads.com/show.php?image=VT19550022t200020.jpg&search=2

the Michigan US 45 is from between 1926 and 1948 - Michigan introduced some other styles as early as 1937: first cateyed reflective signs like this 41 for use on expressways and other high-speed corridors:

http://shields.aaroads.com/show.php?image=MI19370411t200410.jpg&search=41

and then they moved up to 24" signs, with the number printed and the remainder of the legend embossed. These signs also featured a glass-bead reflective background:

http://shields.aaroads.com/show.php?image=MI19400081t200080.jpg&search=8

but at the same time, they kept the 16" signs as reassurance markers on rural roads, as late as 1948, when they went to the flat shields, like the Michigan US 41 that Matt Alvarez posted, which dates to 1948-1955.

in general, flat shields are newer than embossed ones, and round fonts were used starting in 1948, but there are exceptions to every rule!

oh, and the Kansas US 24 ... that one has been on eBay for seemingly decades, because no one wants to pay $400 for it. It is a $100 sign. The style dates to 1962-1973.

please do!