Drive-in 15 Minute (Gone)
San Jose, CA Photo courtesy Tony Craig
In downtown San Jose, this old “Drive-in 15 Minute Service” sign looks like it might be promising a quick stop at the cleaners. But the cars pulling in at 34 S. Almaden Avenue were headed to Tony’s Muffler Service. No shirts to press here, just exhaust pipes to fix.
The sign is a curious bit of roadside advertising, especially without the muffler shop’s name to give away the answer. It’s easy to imagine someone spotting it from the street and wondering what could be done in fifteen minutes.
UPDATE: Tony’s Muffler Service has closed, but auto repair is still offered at the Almaden Avenue address. 09-26
Diamond Laundry
San Jose, CA Photo courtesy Adriene Biondo
There is something about the old painted sign at Diamond Laundry & Cleaners that makes W. San Carlos Street feel like a different era. “Miss Careful Works Here,” it announces, with a smiling blonde woman keeping watch from above. It is the sort of promise that could make a pile of laundry seem a little less daunting.
Diamond Laundry began in 1931, when Harold H. Hulbert named the business after his birthstone. It started out on Grant Street before moving to San Carlos Street in 1950. That was when the painted wooden sign went up, giving the laundry a familiar face for generations of San Jose customers.
Diamond Laundry
San Jose, CA Photo courtesy Adriene Biondo
Miss Careful was more than an advertising character. Her portrait was modeled after Hulbert’s wife, Mary Jane Burton, who later helped run the business with their son Gary. The laundry continued into a third generation under grandson Jason C.H. Burton. Perhaps Miss Careful really did mean it when she said she worked here.
UPDATE: Years of weather and pigeons took their toll on the original sign. It was removed in 2019, and local artist MESNGR painted a replacement based on its earlier colors and lettering. Diamond Laundry remains open, with Miss Careful still on the job. 09-26
Pineapple Launderette (Demolished)
San Jose, CA Photo courtesy Adriene Biondo
A pineapple seems like an unusual choice for a laundrette sign, but it certainly made Pineapple Launderette hard to miss. Above the everyday business of washing and drying, that tropical marquee brought a little vacation mood to Midtown San Jose. Too sweet to ignore, even with a basket of laundry in hand.
There is something appealing about a neighborhood sign that does more than tell you what is inside. The pineapple gave this laundry a personality of its own, turning an ordinary errand into a small roadside sight worth remembering.
UPDATE: Pineapple Launderette has closed, and its Midtown building has been demolished. The sign is gone from the site, though what happened to it afterward is unknown. 09-26
Roy's Cleaners (Closed)
Redwood City, CA Photo courtesy Dave & Debra van Hulsteyn
That big arrow along El Camino Real once pointed drivers toward Roy’s Drive-In Cleaners in Redwood City. With its tall roadside sign and pull-in convenience, Roy’s made dropping off the laundry feel like part of the drive. The arrow had been there since around the 1950s, even as its neon gradually went dark.
Roy’s opened in 1941 in a building made for the cleaning business. It stayed in the family for more than 80 years, becoming one of those familiar places that people could use as a landmark whether or not they had clothes to pick up.
UPDATE: Roy’s closed in August 2025. Plans call for the historic building to become a Chinese restaurant while retaining much of its exterior. The arrow sign structure remains, though whether its neon will return is uncertain. 09-26
Deluxe Cleaners
San Francisco, CA Photo courtesy Devil Doll
The marquee outside Deluxe Cleaners offered two ways to tackle a pile of laundry. Drop off the good clothes for dry cleaning, or stay a while and do a load yourself. Either way, the sign made sure passing San Francisco drivers knew their options.
Its lettering has that practical old storefront charm, spelling out “Self Service Laundry” as though a little time at the machines might be just the thing. There have been other Deluxe Cleaners around San Francisco, which makes this particular shop tricky to place today.
UPDATE: The exact location of the cleaners in this photo has not been confirmed. 09-26
Ideal Cleaners
Oakland, CA Photo courtesy Devil Doll
The old neon sign at Ideal Cleaners has been watching over Oakland’s 14th Street for quite a while. Set against the shop’s glass storefront and Art Deco details, it gives the place the sort of look that makes even a dry-cleaning errand worth a second glance. There is a lot going on along this downtown block, but that sign still knows how to get noticed.
Ideal Cleaners first opened in Oakland in May 1921. After a few years elsewhere in the city, it moved into its present home at 322 14th Street in 1939. That is a long time for one business to stay at one address, especially in a downtown where the neighbors and storefronts have changed around it.
Ideal Cleaners (Close-up of marquee)
Oakland, CA Photo courtesy Dave & Debra van Hulsteyn
The sign is only part of the attraction. The old glass facade and the shape of the storefront give Ideal a look that belongs to another era. In 1997, the Art Deco Society of California honored the shop for preserving its historic appearance. It is nice when a place can still do the everyday work it was built for and look this good doing it.
UPDATE: Ideal Cleaners remains open, and the vintage sign is still mounted on the building. 09-2
Drive-in 15 Minute (Gone)
Diamond Laundry
Diamond Laundry
Pineapple Launderette (Demolished)
Roy's Cleaners (Closed)
Deluxe Cleaners
Ideal Cleaners
