Iconic Street Signs and Billboards Lost to Time
The streets of large cities have always been marked by visual symbols that have become an inseparable part of collective memory. For much of the 20th century, neon signs, hand-painted posters, and giant billboards not only served to advertise products but also to create urban identity.
Places like Times Square and old neighborhood centers featured signs with striking fonts, vibrant colors, and shapes that were impossible to ignore. Many of these visual icons disappeared with the arrival of new technologies, real estate development, and digital advertising, leaving behind a void that modernity has failed to fill.
Today, we survive with photographs, personal memories, and the nostalgia of a time when the street was a living museum of popular creativity.
Neon sign of the Grotto Fish Market.
Glowing neon welcomes diners to Tony Moran’s Italian Restaurant.
Route 66 neon sign, part of a display of vintage and neon from historic U.S. Route 66.
Neon sign of the Boulevard Hotel on Ocean Drive, Miami Beach, Florida.
A neon sign for the Lindstrom Bakery in Lindstrom, Minnesota.
An old neon Indian sign on Historic Route 66 in downtown Albuquerque.
An old drugstore sign in Galveston, Texas.
The Flame was an iconic restaurant.
Historic sign outside the Old Town Bar and Restaurant, New York City.
Pepsi neon sign.
The vintage Lofts Candies neon sign in New York City.
A busy corner of Times Square.
Old Motel, Las Vegas, Nevada.
Neon Art, Las Vegas, Nevada.
Old Las Vegas Neon Sign.
Car Wash, Seattle, Washington.
Sign Jack Robbins Clothes of Distinction in Belmont, Chicago.
Iconic Distelfink Drive-In sign in Heidelberg, Pennsylvania.
A photo from Times Square (1977).
