American Sign Museum facts for kids
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| Established | 1999 |
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| Location | 1330 Monmouth Street Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Type | Collection museum |
The American Sign Museum in Cincinnati, Ohio, is a special place. It keeps, saves, and shows off a huge collection of signs. The museum also displays the machines used to make and design these signs. Tod Swormstedt started working on the idea for the museum in 1999. It first opened its doors to the public in 2005.
Why a Sign Museum?
Tod Swormstedt's family has a long history with signs. They own a magazine called Signs of the Times, which has been published since 1906. Tod's grandfather was the first editor and bought the magazine in 1911. Tod worked at the magazine for over 20 years. He then got the idea to start a museum for signs in 1999.
His family gave $1 million to help start the project. Other people in the sign industry also donated money and signs. The museum was set up as a nonprofit corporation. This means it's not trying to make money. Tod thought about putting the museum in other cities. But he chose Cincinnati because that's where Signs of the Times magazine is based.
Amazing Sign Collection
The museum has over 200 signs and other items on display. They have cataloged more than 3,800 items in total! The signs show how things changed from the late 1800s to the 1970s.
Some cool things you can see include:
- Shiny gold leaf letters on glass.
- A plastic orb that looks like Sputnik from a shopping center.
- A spinning neon windmill from a donut shop.
- Bright showcards from Las Vegas.
- A fiberglass Frisch's Big Boy statue with a slingshot in his pocket. Later Big Boy statues didn't have the slingshot!
You can also find signs from famous places like Big Bear Stores, Howard Johnson's, and Earl Scheib. Above the museum's entrance, a giant 20-foot-tall fiberglass genie welcomes visitors. This genie used to be for a carpet company.
In 2008, the museum got a special 1963 McDonald's sign. It has a single arch and features McDonald's "Speedee" character. This character was replaced by Ronald McDonald in the 1960s. In 2009, a neon sign from Johnny’s Big Red Grill was added. This restaurant was very popular with students at Cornell University.
Growing Bigger and Better
Many signs the museum owned were too big for its first home. To show off more of its collection, the museum bought a much larger building in 2007. This new spot is in Camp Washington, Cincinnati. The building itself is historic and is on the National Register of Historic Places.
The museum opened in its new, bigger home in June 2012. This building can display about 500 signs and other items. Many of them are set up on a fake street. It's like walking through a town called "Signville"!
A company called Neonworks of Cincinnati also moved into the museum's new building. They have a live exhibit. Visitors can watch them restore old neon signs. It's a great way to see how these bright signs are fixed!
See also
- Neon Museum at the Fremont Street Experience in Las Vegas
