23 Items Tagged

Advertising

Grain Belt Bottle Cap Sign

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Grain Belt Bottle Cap Sign

This landmark honoring a local beer brand is an iconic part of the Minneapolis skyline.

Mr Therm Balcony Railings

Oxford, England

Mr. Therm Balcony Railings

An obsolete, long-forgotten advertising character lingers on this Sainsbury’s balcony railings.

Anchorage, Alaska

Diamond Jim's Liquor Store Sign

A quirky roadside sign was the subject of a years-long legal standoff over highway right-of-way clearances.

Commercials from some decades ago.

Ad Museum Tokyo

This museum celebrates the history of Japanese advertising, from feudal business tricks to modern T.V. commercials.

Until the 1990s, when billboards were banned in Spain, these bulls were painted with the name of Veterano Osborne brandy. The company removed the words and successfully fought to have the enormous bulls considered art.

How These Bull-Shaped Billboards Became Spanish Icons

Once an advertisement for brandy, the Osborne bull is now a symbol of the country.

Ignacio Amigo May 10, 2023

Podcast: The Nutmobile

Keep your eyes peeled for a peanut-shaped car that got its start during the Great Depression.

The Podcast Team May 4, 2023

Remembering When Cocktails Were Just Soup

Canned beef bouillon on the rocks, anyone?

Diana Hubbell February 23, 2023

Chocolate 'OJERT' Mural Advert

A hand-painted advertisement for chocolate adorns the walls of this historic building.

Lyhdynkantajat (The Lantern Bearers)

Helsinki, Finland

Lyhdynkantajat (The Lantern Bearers)

These enormous, stern-faced statues greet visitors with lanterns, and sometimes costumes.

At the Cardenal (Cardinal) corner.

Mérida, Mexico

Roberina Sidewalk Adverts

These mosaic designs promise a cure for headaches, toothaches, and colds.

The sidewalk outside of Pearl's Restaurant

New Orleans, Louisiana

Oyster Sidewalk

After the oysters have been shucked, and the restaurant's been shuttered, the terrazzo sidewalk from the 1940s is all that remains.

Pan Am billboard

Reguengo do Fetal, Portugal

Pan Am Billboard

Some 4,000 individual tiles make up this striking blue billboard from the golden age of air travel.

A family poses outside their homestead, somewhere out west, in the late 19th century.

How Personal Ads Helped Conquer the American West

That tradition of finding partners in the face of social isolation persists today.

Linda Rodriguez McRobbie April 29, 2021

The Sign Above the Tunnel

Knoxville, Maryland

The Sign Above the Tunnel

This advertisement for talcum powder was painted on the rock face and has since defied removal.

Colonel Sanders has never been more festive.

How a White Lie Gave Japan KFC for Christmas

One cunning business maneuver created a tradition and saved a franchise.

Luke Fater December 13, 2019

The art, the artist, the inspiration.

roadside attractions

Meet California's Nerds of Neon

These photo-taking, model-making obsessives are documenting the state’s vintage signs before they vanish.

Jody Amable October 4, 2019

Permanently Closed

Mexico City, Mexico

Mexican Calendars Exhibition at the Soumaya Museum

This collection of promotional calendars preserves a staple of mid-century Mexican pop art.

The Flying Jacob is an unlikely concoction that tells the story of Swedish food culture.

How a Banana-Chicken Casserole Defined Swedish Cuisine

The recipe for "Flying Jacob" was the improvised creation of an air-freight worker.

Luke Fater August 26, 2019