Saturdays were always taco night in my house growing up. And the best part of taco night was taco morning, when we would pile in the car and go to the local Mexican store to buy fresh tortillas. We’d bring them home hot and eat them with butter for lunch.
That Mexican store, and its sparse atmosphere, taught me about commerce, and I vividly remember the changeable-letter plastic sign above the counter, listing the food items and their prices. A dozen hot corn tortillas? Twenty-five cents. I’d do the math in my head while my mother rattled off her order.
The changeable-letter sign is, fortunately, still with us in many older independent establishments, though I see them less these days. Click on any image for a larger version. These are from 1939.
The one place I do still see many of these types of sign is in front of churches. Church signs are about the best example of the changeable-letter art form, as they’re usually done with great care and precision. These are from 1961.
I remember the counter at Woolworth’s and the dusty plastic-letter sign announcing the daily specials. All I ever got was a Coke or a hot dog and a stern treatment by the waitress. These are from 1939 and 1942.
At the bank the loan rates and interest payments were prominently displayed in changeable-metal lettering of a high quality — not the cheap plastic kind found at most fast-food restaurants or liquor stores. More from 1939.
Today’s images all came from my assortment of changeable-letter sign catalogs (don’t ask) dating from 1939 to 1967. I suspect the content can be taken at face value — even if the companies made up signs for the catalogs, I assume they would use current prices. So I love looking at what things use to cost.
Go to page 2 to find out how much you would pay in 1949 for a meal of pot roast, French-fried potatoes, lima beans, apple pie, and coffee.
This article was last modified on March 8, 2021
This article was first published on September 10, 2010
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