GoKawiilThere’s a certain type of sign hanging on every Main Street in America, seen on every road trip exit ramp, and shining brightly above the doorways to our local car mechanic, salon, and bar. These plastic, bubbly, lit-up signs have quietly ingrained themselves in our history and cultural identity here in the US, sometimes without thought or recognition, guiding us into the businesses that have sustained our local communities and economies for decades. And once you’re aware of their folk art glory, you’ll notice that they are…everywhere.
Found deep in online message boards, niche Facebook groups, and Flickr accounts, these 3D “vacuum-formed” signs are referred to as pan-faced signs, Signtronix, Dynalites, thermoformed signs, or vacu-form signs. Whichever way they are known, these names all lead to a 3-dimensional plastic sign with embossed letters dating back to the 1950s. And oh boy, this style of signage is just the tip of the iceberg in the history of sign design. So down the rabbit hole we shall go…
Before the 1900s, signs were primarily hand-painted wooden or metal signboards. At the turn of the century, the transition to electric sign advertising began to boom, with bright bulbs lighting up Broadway theaters and downtowns up until the 1920s, when the invention of neon lighting by the French engineer Georges Claude swooped in. These neon signs, considered a luxury with their multicolored fluorescent tubes, hit the US in the 1920s and were found across every major city, remaining popular until the early 1950s.
In the early 1950s, the world of plastics had significantly accelerated due to the military’s need during WWII for lighter, more durable materials to create 3D topographical maps. Advancements in manufacturing, with the invention of the vacuum-forming machine and thermoplastics, allowed sign manufacturers to reimagine how illuminated vacuum-formed signage could appear across the US.
Side Note: What the heck are thermoforming plastics, and what does a vacuum-forming machine do? Let me tell you so you can bring this information up at parties.The quick answer is using a large vacuum-forming machine, a sheet of thermoplastic was heated until soft, draped over a sign mold, and a vacuum from below drew the plastic tightly into the mold’s form.
Sign companies were off to the races with this new technology! Midwestern companies like Timely Products Mfg Co. found their niche in making vacuum-formed signs for breweries such as Yuengling, while the Chicago-based company Embosograf Corporation joined the fun with soft drink giants like Coca-Cola. With the vacuum-forming machine and new plastics at their fingertips, they could achieve faster turnarounds, more durable signs, and mass-produced signage.
Meanwhile in Southern California…
A lively salesman from East Los Angeles named Conrad Escalante worked for a small Southern California sign company called Gulf Development. According to his obituary, he was known to attach metal frames and handlebars to his signs as if they were suitcases. Outside of the office, though, Conrad was busy inventing and patenting numerous, 7 to be exact, vacuum-formed and electrical signs for development.
It was at Gulf Development that he met a young machinist named Kozy Boren, and in 1958, the two ventured off to start their own sign company, Superior Outdoor Display Co., in an 8,000 sq/ft industrial property in Long Beach, California.
At this point in the late 1950s, even the new, more affordable, brightly lit vacuum-formed plastic signage seemed to be reserved for larger businesses like Coca-Cola. Small businesses felt the pain of this, especially at night. Wooden motel signs off the highway were difficult to see, and Kozy and Conrad took note. With their sign-making experience, they solved this small-business challenge by inventing the iconic flashing “superior arrow,” an electric, lit-up arrow designed to attach to an existing sign. A perfect solution to bring attention to small businesses that couldn’t afford to update their whole exterior signage.
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