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spitball » collections

spitball

spitball

New Jersey

My primary collecting interest is in old traffic lights and highway shields, especially from New Jersey and NYC.

Posts

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Signal Service Corp. Type BCE 21 Traffic Signal - Signsin Signs
Late 1950s NJ Route 208 Sign - Signsin Signs
Cast Iron Passaic River (NJ) sign - Signsin Signs
1950s Cast Aluminum NJ Route 69 Shield - Signsin Signs
1930s Two-Lamp GE Novalux Traffic Signal - Signsin Signs
US Route 46 Shield and JCT Banner - late '50s - Signsin Signs
Two 1940s Traffic Signal Heads from Hoboken - Signsin Signs
Restoration of my 1920s Union County NJ Guide Sign - Signsin Signs
1920s Directional Sign from Union County, NJ - Signsin Signs
Marbelite 2-way Adjustible Traffic Light - Lampsin Lamps

Comments

  1. It's reminiscent of New Jersey's signage in the early-mid '50s.
  2. MMNJ, I believe these date back to the 1920s and '30s. You grew up close to where I did. :)
  3. Yes, the small amount of original paint was black on white.
  4. A collector in Pittsburgh recently came up with about a dozen(?) "SPEED LIMIT TWENTY MILES" embossed signs, with TWENTY spelled out, rather the numerals. They are stamped on the back by Signal Servic...
  5. Awesome!. I'd personally restore that, although many collectors prefer to leave everything in its found condition.
  6. Great one! I recall seeing a few of this style in Jersey directing to the bridges and tunnels to NYC. I think a few might still be in service. I'd love to have one like that in my collection.
  7. Nifty sign!! Quite a rarity, too. It took me years to find a cast iron guide sign like the one I got last year. Mine weighs 57 lbs at only 18x24. Yours must be more....sheesh!
  8. Nice rescue! It's cool to begin with, but even cooler that you personally found it before it could go through a dealer's hands. Nothing wrong with dealers...but it's more like it was meant to be you...
  9. I love it. I'd like to get an e/m controller again. My signals all run on circuit board controllers, which serve a good purpose; but it just ain't the same!
  10. Thanks, it was a relatively simple restoration, and I knew it would turn out nice, so I was very motivated to move it ahead.
  11. I can only assume it is an Olympic brand knock-off version of a Fender Telecaster. I know nothing about Olympic, but I wouldn't be surprised if it is Japanese or Korean. Such knock-offs can be of a ...
  12. You know I like this! Ah, to take a leisurely drive on NJ 10 in the 50s...
  13. Killer...
  14. Very cool! I've never seen one myself, so I'd guess it's scarce.
  15. Big sign, but if make a place for it! I love my Cobalt NYC humpback sign.
  16. Wow.... uniquely cool!
  17. This is hands down the coolest parking regulation sign I've ever feasted my eyes on!
  18. You guys are right; it's definitely pre-1960. This Pinterest photo is dated 1955 (seems about right) and shows the same style of street signs. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/84794405456363094/
  19. They look "sorta old" rather than "super old" to me. I'd guess 1960s-70s vintage, but that's just a guess.
  20. I've always liked the artwork on these.
  21. Yeah, I agree, that is cool-looking, unusual, and easily displayed. I would think a decent number of collectors would be interested. When I posted earlier, I was thinking that it wasn't something I...
  22. I'm sure there is at least a small market for them. It's a rare find, so that will give it value, but on the other hand, there might not be too many people who specifically want to add one of those t...
  23. good one!
  24. PS - I'd go with what MUTCDVictim said...
  25. I haven't see one of those before, but, by the look of it, 1920s would not be out of the question.
  26. That's a rare bird! I agree, it seems likely to be a sign for vehicular traffic in a roundabout.
  27. Here's an example of what I mean...I think your sign was for the same purpose as these. Photo From Rahway, NJ in 1940: http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/sizes/rcmaxwellco_XXH0468/
  28. I don't typically go crazy over STOP signs, but that's a particularly neat one to me, for some reason.
  29. I have seen signs similar to this posted at the median when a road becomes divided (i.e., where the median begins).
  30. Despite the often strangely pitch-altered vocals and raw sound of this record, I think it is beautiful; one of Frank's best. It's an ecstatic time capsule of the LA Freak scene, something that otherw...
  31. Now, THAT is collecible. Sweet find!
  32. I think these are 1920s-30s vintage.
  33. These model D/DT signals were being made as far back as the 30s, and up into the 50s, as you said. They are just gorgeous. Yours is a gem with that hard to find slip fitter base.
  34. Nice! I was lucky to find Washington Sq. N. at MacDougal St. for a fair pice on eBay a good 8-10 yeas ago...a while later, I was able to find period-correct mounting hardware for mine as well from a ...
  35. Thanks! Only two of the original eight latches remain on this light. The rest are spares from newer lights (mostly Marbelite). In the last picture, I didn't even have all the latches on yet.
  36. It really is a neat item to display, especially because I remember when a number of these were still going in New York City.
  37. Wacky Packages were first released as a series of punch-out adhesive cards (referred to as die-cuts) that didn't sell too well in the late 60s. They showed up again as a series of stickers in 1973 an...
  38. I enjoy all sorts of old "street furniture", with traffic signs and signals being my favorite. I only have kept a few pieces with me - I used to have many more. One of the signals I kept is a Crouse...
  39. Looks to me like a 1960s Marbelite, but I'd need bigger pictures to be sure. These were very common, and many are available off the streets, so paying a price like $200 ought not be necessary. I hav...
  40. PS - I found a couple old pics in the NJ state archives of a set of these signs being maintained back in the day: http://i722.photobucket.com/albums/ww222/pb4fjk/signs/directionalsign2_zps8a7d9f46.jp...
  41. I'm sort of a purist with this stuff, so I'd restore them to any color that was commonly used in my neck of the woods (NJ). Depending on the town and the time, these could have been painted dark gree...
  42. Great find!
  43. You are right, that's a Mark IV, which would have been made in the 80s, or possibly into the 90s. For some reason, the paint did not hold very well on these. This probably had glass lenses and incan...
  44. Oh wow, I was thinking this was a Gibson. Well, it looks like a great copy by Ibanez.
  45. Freaky cool!
  46. A black Les Paul just looks like it means business. I once had a black one with natural mahogany sides and back. It was part of a special run of the "1957" reissues. It looked so great, but the nec...
  47. Nifty guitar!
  48. That does look like a 1970s Gibson ES-355. I think they're making them better today than they did in the 70s, but that's a great looking instrument. The tail piece in unusual (and cool). They were ...
  49. That's a Mexican made Strat from 1998. Not a bad guitar at all. Obviously, the nut needed to be replaced at the time of the picture.
  50. PS - I guess we can deduce that this sign stood on River Road at the intersection of Southern Boulevard. Oh, and I lived in New Providence briefly in the late 90s.
    51. See more

Loves

See all 52
1960s-1970s Retired New York City Pedestrian Push Buttons old embossed steel DOUBLE ARROW highway sign authentic MARBELITE traffic signal from Cincinnati LFE/AUTOMATIC SIGNAL traffic light with double red indication Vintage "DEAD END" Embossed Metal Sign Found this old speed limit sign on my property Any Help identifing this? Railroad Diamond Cast Iron STOP Sign Original U.S. Highway 45 shield Road sign marble Kennedy airport sign. 1918 NYC IRT Subway station sign - Pelham Bay Parkway Can you identify this? Danger Cross Roads VINTAGE 1940's (CROUSE HINDS TRAFFIC SIGNALS) Matchbox Monday Carrying On With a Carry Case With Cars my 'outside' display of road signs