This is a new, regular feature of the Signhugger Blog, with the help of Tod Swormstedt, Founder of the American Sign Museum. My purpose, when I approached Tod for this concept, was to draw attention to the ways that signs have been part of our visual lexicon for generations, and how they create a more spirited environment. I want people to look at old signs fondly, feel nostalgia, and respect their design, and especially, their stories….
"...often, I hear it’s the stories I can relate about the signs that make the museum experience unique. I’m told they call this “provenance” in museum speak. Thanks to Teresa M. Young, I will be sharing some of these stories with you."
The Sign That Lived Up Its Name!
Speedy!
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| Photo Credit: Dave Dieter – Huntsville Times |
The Speedy McDonald’s sign was a treasured icon, a piece of history for Huntsville. But its future was to be in jeopardy, if it were not for fate, speed, and persistence!
In March, 2008, Tod Swormstedt received a call from Lamar Osborne of Huntsville, who told him that this local McDonald’s sign was due to come down sometime in the near future due to expansion of the existing store. Osborne had been lovingly maintaining the sign for more than 25 years, so he was concerned that it might end up in the scrap yard. He gave Swormstedt the franchise owner’s name—Steve Johnson—and Swormstedt called Johnson immediately.
“I told him we were definitely interested in the sign, but he said he had to check with corporate to see who actually owned the vintage icon.”
Also at this time, there was a grass roots movement afoot to keep the sign in Huntsville. Swormstedt assured he could certainly understand that, and actually, the American Sign Museum would rather see it stay in its hometown, too. “That’s just how we looked at these vintage icons,” he explained.
Over the next several months,Swormstedt called Johnson a few times to see if Speedy’s fate had been determined. Last word Swormstedt had was that the local historical museum was going to relocate the sign so it could stay in Huntsville. It looked like things were going to work out okay for Speedy.
It was a tall order as any of you who have crane trucks know... Suddenly, Speedy was more than just a name! With alacrity, Swormstedt contacted Roy Cox at Trav-Ad Signs, Inc. in Huntsville. The secretary told Swormstedt that Roy was out-of-town, but try his cell phone. It was now about 4:45 pm on Friday.
“I finally did get hold of Roy and he told me under normal circumstances he’d be more than glad to help, but all of his trucks were out—spread across Alabama and Mississippi,” said Swormstedt.
Panicking, it occurred to Swormstedt to call Osborne back to see if he had a crane large enough to remove the two-ton sign. “No,” he said. “I’ve just got a bucket truck for maintaining the sign. But there is a guy who used to install signs around here named Ralph Young.”
Osborne continued, telling Swormstedt that Young had originally worked in the sign business and left to start his own crane service—Empire Crane. He added he might have even installed the Speedy sign himself.It was now well past 5 pm on a Friday afternoon. With low expectations, Swormstedt called both of the Empire Crane numbers Osborne had provided, but got the answering machine and left messages.
“I wasn’t really expecting to talk to anyone anyway. So it’s going on 6 pm now and I’m sitting in my office, trying to figure out if there’s anything else I can do right now, and the phone rings. It’s Ralph Young. I explain the situation—about the Tuesday deadline—and he calmly says,“Sure, we can do it.”
"I immediately got on the phone and called Johnson, leaving a message that I found someone who could get the sign down under the tight deadline!”
“Monday morning, Johnson calls back and we agree upon a price. Wow. Maybe this is meant to be.”
True to his word, Ralph had his crew, lead by his son Terry, out first thing Tuesday morning to take down Speedy. The parking lot was crowded with press and local onlookers, wanting to get a last glimpse of the town’s longtime icon. 
The job went without a hitch and Terry and crew loaded up Speedy onto a trailer to haul it the two blocks back to their shop yard to await transport to Cincinnati.When they pulled off the primed-out panel which serves as the sign that Speedy is holding, underneath, the original porcelain read “15 cents.” Likewise, prying off the “99” billion had light bulb matrices to indicate whatever “million” McDonald’s reached at the time--a different time, in a slower era.
Tod Swormstedt is the founder of the American Sign Museum in Cincinnati, OH. He is the former editor and publisher of Signs of the Times magazine. His brother, Wade, currently edits the century-old publication.
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1 comments:
Thanks for promoting Tod's efforts & the American Sign Museum. You might want to fix your spelling to "Speedee". I am so glad this sign got saved since there are so few of them left now.
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