Gay Dolphin Gift Cove
Myrtle Beach, SC Photo courtesy Tony Craig
Here's the Gay Dolphin Gift Cove in Myrtle Beach, SC. You used to be able to go up to the top and use it as an observation deck, but it is now off limits for some reason. This place is billed as the largest gift store in SC. Many thanks to Tony Craig for info. 03-07
Cruising Ocean Boulevard in Myrtle Beach, it's pretty hard to miss Gay Dolphin Gift Cove. The big vertical sign and glass tower have been part of this beach strip for generations, promising plenty of souvenirs inside.
The Gay Dolphin opened in 1946, started by Justin and Eloise Plyler. Hurricane Hazel wiped out the original store in 1954, but it was rebuilt and eventually grew into a multi-level maze packed with seashells, beach souvenirs and just about every kind of Myrtle Beach keepsake imaginable. Back in the day there was even a Gay Dolphin Kiddieland nearby, adding rides and attractions to an already busy stretch of Ocean Boulevard.
UPDATE: The best part is the Gay Dolphin is still here. The gift shop remains open at 916 N. Ocean Boulevard, and its familiar sign still watches over the Myrtle Beach roadside scene. 08-26
Walter Nipper's Sporting Goods (Gone)
Nashville, TN Photo courtesy Bruce R. Cassi / 2005
I bet when this neon fish sign at the Nashville Sporting Goods was newer, it was a sight to see driving down 8th street at night. It has a lot of broken tubing and the finish is quite weathered when this shot was taken. It was built by the Post Sign Co. Many thanks to Bruce R. Cassi for info. 06-07
That big fish looks like it's about ready to jump right off the sign. Walter Nipper's Nashville Sporting Goods was a longtime fixture along 8th Avenue in downtown Nashville, and with a sign like this out front, you weren't going to drive past without noticing. The leaping fish, neon tubing and big SPORTING GOODS letters gave the place just the right kind of downtown character. Need a baseball glove, fishing gear or maybe something for the local team? This looked like the place. 2005
Nashville Sporting Goods had been around since 1945, with Walter Nipper taking over the business in 1950. Over the years the store became something of a Nashville institution, supplying equipment and uniforms to generations of local youth leagues, high schools and college teams. The store even expanded in 1961, back when downtown sporting goods stores were still a regular part of the landscape.
Walter Nipper himself became well known around Nashville sports circles. He was part of the ownership group that brought the Nashville Sounds to town in 1978, giving the old sporting goods man another connection to baseball besides all those bats and gloves that passed through his store.
UPDATE: Here are additional shots of Walter Nipper's Sporting Goods in Nashville. According to one of the employees at the store, the sign is "at least 69 years old" so that would put it somewhere around 1939. i don't know too much about football but if you notice the football helmet on the bottom left it looks about 30's or 40's and the basketball has big fat stitching like footballs do so that's another possible clue of the 30's. 05-08
Walter Nipper's Sporting Goods
169 Eighth Ave N
Nashville, TN 37203-3791
Phone: (615) 259-4241
But out here on the road, it's that jumping fish that gets the attention. There's just something about an oversized fish hanging above a sporting goods store that works, especially when neon is involved. By the time this photo was taken in 2005, the sign had already been watching over 8th Avenue for decades. Unfortunately, it wouldn't be there much longer. The old fish sign was removed in 2009.
UPDATE: Nashville Sporting Goods closed for good in 2014 after nearly 70 years in business. The old storefront has since moved on to other uses. 08-26
Liberty Trading Post (Closed)
Louisville, KY Photo courtesy Emily Steele
Here's one of those roadside places where the sign tells you just about everything you need to know. Liberty Trading Post Trailer Sales once operated somewhere around Louisville, selling trailers beneath a collection of old signs that probably caught more than a few eyes passing by. 10-07
There's nothing fancy going on here, and that's part of the charm. The weathered lettering, homemade-looking signs and trailer lot give the place the feel of an old roadside business that had been doing things pretty much the same way for years. Need a utility trailer? Pull in and take a look. Chances are there was one sitting out front with your name on it.
Not much seems to have been recorded about Liberty Trading Post, including exactly where in Louisville it stood or how long it was around. Sometimes that's just the way it goes with these smaller roadside businesses. They weren't landmarks at the time, just familiar places you passed while heading across town.
Liberty Trading Post color photo
Louisville, KY
Photo courtesy Kevin Newman
And that's what makes shots like this fun to come across years later. No famous architecture or elaborate neon needed here. Just an old Louisville trailer dealer, some great weathered signs and another roadside stop that managed to catch the camera.
UPDATE: Here's an old sign for the Liberty Trading Post shown in full color. The sign is creatively shaped like an airplane and today advertises "quality mobile homes". Many thanks to Kevin Newman for info. 05-09
UPDATE: Liberty Trading Post Trailer Sales is no longer in business. The current status of the old signs and property is unknown. 08-26
Bait and beer. Sounds like somebody figured out exactly what a fisherman needs. This great old neon sign belonged to Al's Bait & Beer Depot, also known as Al's Bait House, along Dixie Highway in Louisville. With BAIT and BEER glowing above that little depot-shaped sign, this was one roadside stop that was pretty hard to miss after dark. 10-07
Al's sat at 14216 Dixie Highway and served fishermen heading out for a day on the water. Minnows, crickets, tackle and whatever else you might have forgotten could be picked up here. And apparently a cold beer wasn't too far away either. Not a bad combination for a bait shop.
The sign was the real catch. Red, yellow and green neon outlined the lettering and little depot design, giving Al's the kind of homemade roadside personality that you just don't get from a plastic box sign. It must have looked even better glowing along Dixie Highway at night.
For years Al's was one of those neighborhood places where fishermen could stop for bait, talk about where the fish were biting and probably hear a few stories about the one that got away. Nothing fancy, just a local bait shop with one terrific neon sign out front.
UPDATE: Al's Bait House closed around 2020 and the property at 14216 Dixie Highway is vacant. The old neon sign may still be there. 08-26
Dixie Dispensary (Gone)
Louisville, KY Photo courtesy Emily Steele
There's not much neon left on this one, but the old sign still makes you wonder what it looked like glowing at night. Dixie Dispensary was a neighborhood liquor store in Louisville, with this big metal sign hanging out over the sidewalk. By the time this shot was taken, the neon tubing appears to have already disappeared, leaving the old sign behind. 10-07
The name is half the fun here. "Dixie Dispensary" sounds a little more official than your average corner liquor store, but that's exactly what this place was. For years it served the surrounding West Louisville neighborhood as a local package store, the kind of place where the sign probably became more familiar than the building itself.
UPDATE: Dixie Dispensary has closed. The old neon is gone and Goody Goody Liquors took over the building and site sometime around 2010 or so. 08-26
Gay Dolphin Gift Cove
Walter Nipper's Sporting Goods (Gone)
Walter Nipper's Sporting Goods
Walter Nipper's Sporting Goods
Liberty Trading Post (Closed)
Al's Bait & Beer Depot
Dixie Dispensary (Gone)
