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

yep, that is how it is - some states are just worth a lot more than others. Non-reflective Michigan (1926-1937) are easy to find; as evidenced by the Michigan US 41 shield that went for $280 or so on eBay and the various state route shields (M-26, M-28, M-35) that are hoping to sell for $60... meanwhile Utah, an embossed sign will set you back $3000, and even a flat one (1948-1956) may cost you $900. Just how some states are ... they took down all the signs and replaced them with modern examples; some states are more aggressive in their replacement policies.



here are some photos of the 30N I sold to Al:

http://shields.aaroads.com/show.php?image=ID19490301t200303.jpg&search=30

it is a cutout and I do believe it is from 1949 because I remember seeing an article that Idaho started designating their scenic routes in 1949. Idaho used this style of cutout between 1948 and 1950; this brown scenic route shield is a 1949 or 1950.



and by "certain markings" you mean a swastika! a Navajo Indian good luck symbol that was used between 1926 and 1939, before those dang Germans totally subverted the ideals behind that symbol. Extra interesting to note that when the US won the war (1945), Arizona *put back* the swastika! The spoils of victory, eh?

here is one from about 1956:

http://shields.aaroads.com/show.php?image=AZ19567891t307890.jpg&view=31

and here is one from as late as 1959!

http://shields.aaroads.com/show.php?image=AZ19590841t300840.jpg&view=3

btw an Arizona US 66 (no cateyes) sold for $7700 a few weeks ago. It is in good shape.

http://shields.aaroads.com/show.php?image=AZ19260662t200660.jpg&search=66



the Nebraska state route is my favorite shield - both the old and new designs. Here is a 3 from 1922:

http://shields.aaroads.com/show.php?image=NE19310032t300030.jpg&view=3

and here is a 47 from 1967:

http://shields.aaroads.com/show.php?image=NE19790805t300470.jpg&view=3

They're nothing special. I've started a new post. You can find pictures of them at this link: My road signs

Whooopsss

I recently picked up a California speed limit sign, heavy porcelain, black with white letters, white reflectors (not marbles) in the numbers. Anybody know when California started/stopped using these?

Great stuff guys!! Great looking fence photos!! Next years backyard project is a potting shed & fences for sign hanging.:)

I redone my side yard fence.

Looks Great Matt!!!!!!

Hi Matt,

I really like the way you are mixing gas & oil signs in with your road signsand adding a gas pump into the display.

I was going to seperate my road signs from my gas & oil signs into seperate fence sign displays. Now, after looking at what you guys are doing, I'm going to mix them up and add a pump or two. I think it makes a more interesting display.

One change I'll have to make at my place; the pump will have to be a short one so the globe stays below the top of the fence. I'm not that brave!

...here's one of the plywood Speed Limit signs I got in NH a few years back, back and front...

A few road signs collected over the years

...very nice stuff - the camera flash always makes the marbles look great...

great display, Matt!!!

Just wanted to address the history of speed limit signs in California. I don't have as many example photos as I do with shields, so here is hoping the verbal descriptions do:

1913-1924: porcelain equilateral triangles, color-coded by speed. I have seen many a 20 (red with white legend), and the occasional 15 (green with white legend), and a single one whose speed I don't remember, but was a yellow with black legend ... 10mph? 25?

1924 was the first year of federal standards in highway sign shapes, which meant the stop sign was an octagon, the railroad advance warning was a circle, and a lot of other advisory signs became rectangles - including the speed limit sign. So CA went with black rectangles of size 24x18 and 30x24, black with white legend, and they said, on separate lines:

SPEED LIMIT
30
MILES
AUTO CLUB OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

the NorCal signs said "CALIFORNIA STATE AUTO ASSOCIATION" and all had the logo, and all had "SPEED LIMIT" on one line at the top, and a big number, and then "MILES" a bit further down. And they all had #1 size (1 inch) glass reflectors.

In 1931, the state mandated that the auto clubs who were busy signing all these routes no longer spell out their name, but in a compromise they let the logo stand, so from 1931-1942, the speed limit signs in CA were black with white legend, glass reflectors, legend as above, and just a logo below the word "MILES".

In 1942 is when the auto clubs first started using plastic reflectors, and they had fully converted by 1949 - these signs again keep the same legend.

Meanwhile, in 1947, the state highway department (Cal Dept. Pub. Works. Div. of Hwys.) got in on the signing action, and they put up plastic-reflector signs that matched the auto clubs, except for the Division of Highways logo at the bottom.

In 1957, California started mandating the use of reflective sheeting, instead of reflective buttons, and also they went to larger signs (say, 45x36, not just 30x24), and this standard persisted until 1962. Furthermore, these signs were all screen-printed on aluminum, as opposed to the earlier standards of porcelain enamel on steel. They had the usual "SPEED LIMIT/50/MILES" designation (as seen on Matt's sign in the photos above), but no logo at the bottom, just a big empty space. There is, in fact, a Speed Limit 25 of this configuration still sitting around on state highway 4, in a Chain Control area - so during 9 months out of the year, the sign is turned away from the highway and no one thinks to replace it. Still there as of July 2009!

1962 is when the state went to the style of speed limit sign that other states used - SPEED and LIMIT on separate lines, then the number below it, and they even brought back the button reflectors because they worked better than reflective sheeting. The signs were black with a white legend, and with reflectors, but otherwise looked just like modern signs. They were screen-printed on aluminum just like the 1957 standards. There are quite a few still floating around California, including one on CA-26 in the Sierra foothills.

1967 - the state went back to the reflective sheeting, which had been technologically improved enough to be an effective alternative to button reflectors. There are quite a few of these black speed limit signs around, like a 30 in Oakland in front of a Safeway supermarket, and many, many 25s signing the access road of the aqueduct that parallels I-5 in Kern County (which was built 1968-1970 in those areas).

1971 - here is where the state inverted its colors and went with the standard that all the other states were using. To this day I still do not understand the difference between "SPEED LIMIT" and "MAXIMUM SPEED" sign - the "MAXIMUM SPEED" legend was introduced after the energy crisis of 1973, when the feds mandated 55 mph, and somehow, if you get yourself a good enough lawyer, you may be able to show up in court and have said attorney blather on about the distinction between "de jure" and "prima facie" speed limit violations, and have your "96 in a 55" dismissed on a technicality.

not that I've ever done that ...

Jake,

When did they stop useing the logos on porcelain signs? My speed limit 50 is porcelain with plastic reflectors.

the logos vanished gradually... the auto clubs were pressured to give up the game by the Division of Highways around 1956, so the last ACSC logo was 1956. The ACSC just plain stopped signing when presented with these restrictions.

the Division of Highways, the last logo was 1956 as well... they stopped putting on the logo at that time. There are 1956 signs (Y stamp) both with and without logo. But the Division of Highways kept signing ... well until the present day. Nowadays they are known as CalTrans - 1973 is when they made the switch.

CSAA persisted on, and they had the logo as late as 1969, on signs that were on roads not administered by the Division of Highways ... this means that when the manufacturing standards changed to aluminum with screen-printing, they did keep the logo. There are CSAA signs floating around (mainly stop signs I have seen) with the logo on the aluminum.

the Speed Limit 50, being porcelain, is likely either a 1956 Div Hwys example, or something from 1942-1956 from an authority that did not place a logo, as many towns did not do. I've seen some places like City of Fresno, SJPD (San Jose Police Department), BPD (Berkeley Police Department) and others use a logo on their signs, but many jurisdictions just completely omitted it.

is there a stamp on the back of the 50 sign?

There is a stamp, just do not remember what it is.