Ratcliffe's Flowers (Closed)
Charlotte, NC Photo courtesy Richard Weiss
The building that features this sign for Ratcliffe's Flowers is now a restaurant and is as elegant as an old movie palace inside. How this piece of Charlotte's history survived is almost shocking because there are few remnants downtown to even give you a hint that this is in fact an old city. Ratcliffe's has been encapsulated into a high rise... yup it is surrounded on top and on both sides by a modern building, meaning someone put a lot of effort into saving it. Many thanks to Richard Weiss for info. 02-08
Here's an old Charlotte sign that refused to go away. The Ratcliffe's Flowers neon sign once hung over South Tryon Street, advertising a flower shop that had been doing business downtown since 1917. The distinctive shop building came along in 1929, but it's the old neon sign that really catches the eye. During the 1950s, when other Tryon Street merchants were taking down their projecting signs for a cleaner, more modern look, owner Louis Ratcliffe reportedly refused to remove his. Good thing he did. It eventually became one of the last reminders of the days when signs like this lined the street.
Ratcliffe's Flowers (Closed)
Charlotte, NC Photo courtesy Richard Weiss
Ratcliffe's Flowers closed in 1989, but both the building and sign survived. When the block was redeveloped in 2000, the old 650-ton flower shop was actually picked up and moved about half a block. The sign stayed behind near its original location. So today you can still find "Ratcliffe's Flowers" hanging above the sidewalk, even though there's no longer a flower shop beneath it. Sometimes the sign outlasts just about everything else.
UPDATE: The Ratcliffe's Flowers sign still stands along South Tryon Street near The Green. The relocated former flower shop building also survives nearby. 08-26
H&C Coffee
Roanoke, VA Photo courtesy Rick Ibsen
Now here's a sign that can light up downtown. The H&C Coffeeign has been glowing over Roanoke since the late 1940s, complete with a neon coffee pot that actually appears to pour a steaming cup. The letters light up, the pot comes to life, and the coffee pours right into the cup below. About the only thing missing is the smell of fresh coffee. 08-08
H&C Coffee dates back to 1927, when brothers Harold and Clarence Woods started the Woods Brothers Coffee Company in Roanoke. Harold reportedly got the idea for the animated sign after seeing the spectacular advertising signs of New York, and in 1948 the big H&C sign went up over the company's roasting plant on Campbell Avenue.
H&C Coffee
Roanoke, VA Photo courtesy Rick Ibsen
When that building came down in the 1960s, the sign was saved and moved downtown. After years of weather and eventually going dark, more than $150,000 was raised to bring the old neon landmark back to life. It was restored and moved again in 2005, this time to its present rooftop location where it could continue overlooking downtown Roanoke.
Look just above it and there's another piece of Roanoke advertising history, the old Dr Pepper 10-2-4 bottle cap sign. Roanoke was once such a big Dr Pepper town that it was proclaimed the "Dr Pepper Capital of the World" in 1957.
With the H&C coffee pouring below and Dr Pepper glowing overhead, this is one downtown corner that certainly knows how to advertise a drink.
UPDATE: The animated H&C Coffee sign remains a Roanoke landmark and continues to overlook downtown from its rooftop location. 08-26
Dr Pepper
Roanoke, VA Photo courtesy Rick Ibsen
Here's another sign that helps light up the downtown Roanoke skyline. This giant Dr Pepper bottle cap is covered with lights and features the familiar old 10-2-4 clock numbers. When the whole thing is lit up at night, it's pretty hard to miss. 08-08
Those 10, 2 and 4 numbers go back to an old Dr Pepper advertising campaign encouraging folks to enjoy a bottle at 10 in the morning, 2 in the afternoon and again at 4. Apparently Roanoke took that advice seriously. By the late 1950s, the city was drinking more Dr Pepper per person than anywhere else and was proclaimed the "Dr Pepper Capital of the World" in 1957.
The big bottle cap originally stood at Roanoke's Dr Pepper bottling plant before eventually finding its way downtown. After years of weather and neglect, it was restored as part of the same community effort that brought the neighboring H&C Coffee sign back to life.
Today the two old advertising signs sit together above downtown, with H&C pouring the coffee and Dr Pepper reminding everyone when it's time for another cold one. Not a bad combination for the Roanoke skyline.
UPDATE: The restored Dr Pepper bottle cap sign still overlooks downtown Roanoke alongside the H&C Coffee sign. 08-26
Beaman Pontiac
Nashville, TN Photo courtesy Rick Ibsen
Here's one of those old auto dealer signs that looks even better after the sun goes down. The towering Beaman Pontiac's neon sign along Broadway in Nashville was loaded with neon, from the big vertical PONTIAC letters to the red Pontiac Indian profile glowing near the top. This is the kind of sign that could make you slow down even if you weren't shopping for a new car. 04-09
The sign had been lighting up this stretch of Nashville since 1958, back when automobile dealerships seemed to compete as much with their signs as they did with the cars sitting out on the lot. Beaman Pontiac was part of Nashville's old automobile row, and its towering neon marquee was certainly big enough to let everyone passing by know where to find a Pontiac.
Beaman Pontiac
Nashville, TN Photo courtesy Rick Ibsen
There's something about seeing one of these dealership signs at night. During the day it's a big piece of porcelain and steel rising above the lot. Flip on the neon and suddenly the whole thing comes alive. The vertical letters, the Pontiac name across the bottom, and that glowing red profile made this one a real roadside treasure.
These photos caught the sign at an interesting time, too. General Motors discontinued Pontiac in 2009, bringing an end to a name that had been appearing on dealership signs across America for generations. Beaman continued in business, but the Pontiac name eventually disappeared and the old dealership became part of the broader Beaman Motor Co.
Beaman Pontiac sign close up
Nashville, TN Photo courtesy Rick Ibsen
The original sign didn't remain on Broadway much longer. It was taken down in 2011, and a new Beaman Motor Co. sign patterned after the old one went up the following year. For a while, at least, the familiar tall shape continued to mark the dealership.
Nashville kept changing around it. The longtime Broadway dealership property was eventually sold for redevelopment, and by 2024 the old buildings had been cleared away. Hard to picture that now when looking back at all this neon glowing over the car lot.
UPDATE: The original 1958 Beaman Pontiac sign was removed in 2011. A replica Beaman Motor Co. sign later stood on the Broadway property, but it too was removed when the former dealership was cleared for redevelopment in 2024. 08-26
Ratcliffe's Flowers (Closed)
Ratcliffe's Flowers (Closed)
