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Baltimore Sign Garden - Welcome Recent Rescues Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Little Tavern Drug Store Pig Restoration Now Gone...1 Now Gone...2 Now Gone...3 Now Gone...4

One of the first and last originals on Gov. Ritchie Hwy., this swinger, from 1940 was replaced with a newer version in Oct. 2006. A generous 6' high by 10' wide, it was a throwback to the early days of Ritchie Hwy., in Brooklyn Park, MD. This was the Last old sign on the route, which connects Baltimore to Annapolis. Fabricator unknown.

Rescued from Zentek Bros. hardware, Brooklyn, MD at their closing. This point-of-purchase display was found lying in the basement in perfect working condition. It is an early 1950's  countertop display for a then much younger Black & Decker tool company, based in Towson, MD.

Found in yet another closed hardware store, this lighted point-of-purchase display from the 1950's hung in Millford Mill lumber Co., on Milford Mill Rd. Also rescued were several stamped tin enamel signs in unused condition bearing the same logo.

Before Rite-Aid bought them out, Baltimore had the decades-old Read's Drug chain. This lighted sign was a 'under canopy' sign identifing the side entrance to the fountain at the Brooklyn Park, Md store. The 2-sided acrylic and stainless steel display dates to 1961, when its home, Southview Shopping Center, was built.  The chain was sold in 1981. Fabricator unknown. 

I removed Bell Drugs in 1997 from 6603 Bel Air Rd. in Baltimore. By then, it had been relegated to a Liquor store called "Liquor Depot" as the non-lighting sign had been lettered.  Restored to its original appearence in 2003.  It now graces my drugstore. (See the 'Drugstore' page on this site).

Little Tavern Hamburgers once numbered over 50 in the Baltimore-Washington area. By March, 2007, the chain was down to 2 locations, after the Laurel shop closed at that time. Laurel was the last freestanding, original building with original signage intact. Above, I remove neon units in preperation for the removal of the signs. The building re-opened as Laurel Tavern Donuts. They also offer a very respectable replica of the LT burger today. On April 29, 2008, the last Little Tavern, on Holabird Ave., in Dundalk, closed. This ended an 80-year chapter of another early automobile-age fast food cathedral.

See the 'LITTLE TAVERN' page on this site for the complete story....