Disneyland Marquee (2nd Generation)

California Driving School
Monterey Park, CA
Photo by RoadsidePeek.com

Standing high above the surrounding buildings, the California Driving School marquee is a familiar sight alongside the Pomona Freeway in Monterey Park. Generations of would-be drivers have passed this towering advertisement, perhaps hoping that a few lessons would make joining the traffic nearby seem a little less intimidating.

Founded in 1953, the company has spent more than seven decades teaching Southern Californians how to handle the road. Its Pomona Boulevard location became a familiar neighborhood presence in the early 1960s, with the oversized sign helping motorists pick out the school near the Atlantic Boulevard exit.

The marquee makes good use of that freeway-side setting, lifting the name above the lower buildings where commuters can spot it. It’s a fitting location for a driving school, with a steady stream of traffic nearby demonstrating what students will eventually be joining. Behind-the-wheel instruction, dual-controlled training vehicles, and DMV test preparation supply the practical side of the business below.

UPDATE: California Driving School remains in operation on West Pomona Boulevard, and its tall vintage marquee continues to stand beside the 60 Freeway. More than sixty years after the Monterey Park location became established, the sign remains a familiar part of the daily drive through the area. 10-26

Harbor Photo(Closed)
Costa Mesa, CA
Photo courtesy Ron Pierce

Take a look at the old sign for Harbor Photo in Costa Mesa. The name recalls the days when taking pictures also meant making a trip to a camera shop or photo counter, dropping off a roll, and waiting to see what came back. There was no checking the screen to find out whether that roadside sign had been caught at just the right moment.

Independent photo businesses were useful neighborhood stops for film, processing, and advice. Their signs advertised a service that was part of nearly every family vacation, birthday, and holiday gathering, even if the finished photographs sometimes included a thumb over the lens.

UPDATE: Harbor Photo’s older storefront sign has reportedly been removed following changes in tenants. This photograph preserves a reminder of Costa Mesa’s film-era shopping landscape. 10-26

Whittier Glass and Mirror Co. (Gone)
Whittier, CA
Photo by RoadsidePeek.com

Here’s the old marquee for Whittier Glass and Mirror Company, formerly located along Whittier Boulevard. The projecting sign gave a practical neighborhood business some roadside visibility of its own, announcing a place to turn when a window needed replacing or a mirror needed cutting.

Glass shops were part of the everyday commercial mix along Southern California’s older boulevards. Between restaurants, repair shops, and small stores, businesses like this supplied the services that kept nearby homes and storefronts in order. Their individual signs helped give each block a character beyond the traffic passing through.

UPDATE: The former Whittier Boulevard glass shop became a smog-check business, and its marquee was altered for the new use. The sign structure received another job, but the old glass-and-mirror lettering pictured here disappeared. 10-26

One Stop Printing (Closed)
Whittier, CA
Photo by RoadsidePeek.com

At one time, One Stop Printing in Whittier offered a place to take care of the paper side of running a business. Its old storefront sign recalls an era of printed letterheads, business cards, flyers, and forms, when a neighborhood print shop could be a regular stop rather than an occasional online order.

For roadside watchers, the marquee supplied another example of how even a straightforward service business could put an individual face toward the street. The sign became part of the familiar scenery, whether someone needed a stack of announcements or was simply passing on the way elsewhere.

UPDATE: One Stop Printing has closed, and its older sign has been removed. Another small piece of Whittier’s commercial streetscape survives here in the photo archives. 10-26

Reds Equipment Rentals
La Habra, CA
Photo by RoadsidePeek.com

Here’s an old equipment-rental sign for Reds Equipment Rentals in La Habra, advertising the sort of place that could help turn a weekend project into something considerably more ambitious. Renting the right equipment saved buying a machine that might otherwise spend most of its life taking up garage space. Getting it back on time supplied a little extra incentive to finish the job.

Reds belonged to the practical side of La Habra’s commercial landscape, serving customers who needed equipment for construction, repairs, and improvements around the house. Rental yards like this helped keep local projects moving, whether the customer arrived with a contractor’s schedule or an optimistic plan for Saturday morning.

Outside, the roadside marquee made the business easy to recognize before reaching the yard. For passing photographers, a place devoted to getting work done could offer a sign worth stopping to capture, with no equipment rental necessary.

UPDATE: The older Reds sign was removed or reworked after this photograph was taken. The rental business’s closing date has not been confirmed, but its original roadside advertisement survives here in the photo archives. 10-26

Van de Kamp's Bakery (Gone)
Alhambra, CA
Photo by RoadsidePeek.com

The distinctive lettering on this Van de Kamp’s Bakery sign brings back the years when the name was a familiar sight around Southern California. Once attached to an Alhambra building, the sign offered a reminder of neighborhood bakery stops and the company’s recognizable Dutch-inspired advertising.

Van de Kamp’s began in Los Angeles in 1915, initially selling potato chips before expanding into baked goods. Theodore Van de Kamp, his sisters Marian and Henrietta, and Lawrence Frank helped establish a business whose name and windmill imagery became widely recognized across the region.

Even apart from the windmills, the lettering carried an identity of its own. Spotting it on a storefront could bring pastries and bakery counters to mind long after the original business had disappeared.

UPDATE: This Alhambra sign was removed sometime in the late 1990s. The photograph preserves another example of the familiar Van de Kamp’s lettering that once appeared throughout the Southland. 10-26

Carter Sexton Artists Materials
Los Angeles, CA
Photo by RoadsidePeek.com

What better shape for an art-supply sign than a painter’s palette? At Carter Sexton Artists Materials in Valley Village, the familiar marquee puts the tools of the trade to work above Laurel Canyon Boulevard. Its brush, colorful accents, and neon lettering give the shop a fitting introduction before anyone steps inside.

Founded in 1944, the business began with Carter Sexton selling drafting furniture to nearby film studios. When a shipping company wouldn’t deliver to his home, he acquired the storefront and filled the extra space with art supplies. The shop went on to serve artists including illustrators Andrew Loomis and Pruett Carter.

UPDATE: Carter Sexton remains an independent, family-owned art-supply store more than eighty years after its founding. The familiar palette marquee continues to mark a business whose creative history extends well beyond the sign outside. 10-26