Scioto Sign Co.’s stencil room. Check out the banner for “ACME Iron Sucker Rods.” ACME. That company name always takes me back to Saturday morning cartoons featuring Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner. And “iron sucker rods” sound like something the Coyote used!

It’s no surprise we represent Lamar Advertising Co. (Baton Rouge, LA) with a number of salesmen in front of cars as well as trucks with ladders. After all, Lamar (founded in 1902) built its reputation to this day with untold numbers of roadside billboards. Well, they could probably tell you how many…

This Atlantic Gasoline sign was, as the on-photo caption reads, manufactured and erected by Philadelphia Sign Co. (Palmyra, NJ). The firm, also known as PSCO, was founded in 1905.

Check out the channel letter set for Gimbel Brothers department store — more commonly known as Gimbels — by Philadelphia Sign Co. Nice raceway, too!

Speaking of channel letters, here are some employees of Canton Sign Co. (Canton, OH), which dates back to 1910, along with company founder John A. Franta, presumably holding the “H.”

Canton Sign Co.’s early electric signs were illuminated by incandescent light bulbs, such as this 16 x 24-ft. waving American flag sign.

In what appears to be a WWII-era photo, the employees of Ramsay Signs (Portland, OR), founded in 1911, pose in front of their building and a banner proudly stating the company will be closed for two hours while 100% of the employees donate blood to the Red Cross.

Before Arch Gibson Ramsay, “A.G.” for short, founded Ramsay Signs, he had been an editor in Louisville, KY. As an editor myself, I wish I had thought of something like that!

This building touting more ACME stuff — “ACME Neon Signs” — was once the headquarters of National Sign Corp. (Seattle), which got its start in 1915. By the way, “ACME” is Greek for ‘highest point.’ I bet you didn’t know that.

Storefront and installation truck for La Crosse Sign Group (Onalaska, WI), founded 1917. The Wisconsin icon attributes its longevity to long-term thinking all the way back to its first president, Theodore Schultz.

Young Electric Sign Company (YESCO; Ogden, UT) got its start in 1920 by English immigrant Thomas Young. The company is steeped in a rich history of impressive signs dotting Las Vegas and elsewhere, such as this one under construction for the Boulder Club.

Here is YESCO’s signage for The Mint Las Vegas hotel-casino, located in the Freemont St. area of “old” Las Vegas. Wait! Is that Hunter S. Thompson checking in for the first night described in his celebrated novel, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas?

Let’s step back 101 years and examine this YESCO agreement from 1922. Pretty succinct, no? You won’t get an estimate-diagram-contract like this from today’s shop management software!

Installers from Ortwein Sign Co. (Chattanooga, TN), founded in 1923, killin’ time, hangin’ around a shop truck… Wait a minute! Check the hair on the dude at left. Methinks this looks like a photo from about 1973. How did this get in here?

We leave you with this gem, the Kiggins Theatre, by Vancouver Sign Co. (Vancouver, WA), founded 1923. The hometown landmark is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and remains in business, like all the sign companies featured here, to this day. Congratulations!