Just south of the Ballard bridge on 15th there is what appears to be a sign graveyard. Old burger signs, garage signs, giant arrows, neon tubes and lightbulbs are everywhere, an advertisement for everything. Roger owns the shop and has built so much of the signage that I pass every day in Seattle.
Me: Do you have any competition in the city?
Roger: Who cares.
Me: We should be friends, Roger.
He talked to me for about an hour, showing me photographs of signs he’s made over the course of 30 years and telling me story after story of store owners and how difficult it was to put up this sign or repair that neon.
Me: Can I buy this S?
Roger: Sure, but I’m going to charge you extra for all the stories I’ve told you.
It is so bright in my bedroom and creates this perfect hum in B flat when it’s turned on. It’s one of those things that I don’t expect many people to understand, but my friends that know me get it and love it with me, even if they think it’s slightly ridiculous.
Thanks, Roger, for the S and for the stories.
oh, i like Rog…the things we could do with signage!!!!! ahh…look up Dan Flavin btw…you might want to be his friend as well…he is zee connoisseur of fine art fluorescent light fixtures, oh la la.
I’m not a musician so I don’t know what B flat sounds like but I can imagine it creates a lovely mood for sleeping. Good buy with the S
does the letter S hold any particular significance to you?
No, not particularly. My father’s name is Steve and my sister’s is Stephanie, but other than that, no.
oh man, Seattle won me over with their signs.. If my shop was there I would most definitely hire Roger.
Awesome. Old signs are the best.
This reminds me of an infamous, illuminated capitol E.
I miss that E.
Hey Josh,
This is a long shot and please feel free to tell me to take a hike – but, I am just redesigning my website and I am having images of Letter ‘S’ forms that I have taken shots of, in rotation on my homepage. I absolutely LOVE the shots of your cool S – is there any chance you would let me use one of these shots?