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All the United States Ohio Cincinnati American Sign Museum

American Sign Museum

Where beautiful signs live on forever.

Cincinnati, Ohio

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This is the entrance to the museum from the gift shop. The guided tour on the website was a fascinating way to learn about the signs as we walked through the museum. It’s also available as an audio tour, so bring headphones if you want to do that!   morsmordre / Atlas Obscura User
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Sign at museum for previous tenant of building. Before the museum opened the space was a locally owned dress factory. The dresses were sold door to door and made to order to customer’s measurements.   paigeelizabeth3660 / Atlas Obscura User
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The Cincinnati Pops sign, which accompanied their performances for about 50 years   meganq / Atlas Obscura User
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About

Suffused with neon buzz, the Sign Museum is where all the beautiful, elaborate, and idiosyncratic signs can go once the thing they were advertising is no longer around.

The Museum was created by Tod Swormstedt, who has signs in his blood. He is the grandson of H. C. Menefee, the first editor of Sign of the Times, the sign industry’s main magazine. Swormstedt himself was the editor and publisher for several years before founding the museum.

The Museum’s collection reaches back into the 1800s, featuring signs of every sort made from almost every material imaginable. Among the most notable items are the Sputnik-like sign for the “Satellite Shopland” strip mall, and a single-arch McDonald’s sign with the pre-Ronald “Speedee” character. Some of the most beautiful signs are those from the pre-neon era, including signs advertising haberdashers, cobblers, druggists, and other turn-of-the-century businesses.

In 2012, The Sign Museum moved into a much larger space, enabling it to display some of the larger signs from its collection. The new space, with over 500 signs displayed on a faux “Main Street,” allows visitors to view these artifacts in something like their natural environment.

Related Tags

Museums And Collections Outsider Art Inventions Electrical Oddities Neon Collections Museums Signs

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The American Sign Museum is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.

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  • meganq
  • tylercole
  • arc459
  • buffycaine99
  • Collector of Experiences
  • PushingUpDaisies
  • paigeelizabeth3660
  • morsmordre
  • tmkline100
  • downhometoo

Published

April 18, 2013

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American Sign Museum
1330 Monmouth Street
Cincinnati, Ohio, 45225
United States
39.14347, -84.539942
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