{"id":2450,"date":"2013-10-07T08:00:27","date_gmt":"2013-10-07T14:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/?p=2450"},"modified":"2013-10-06T18:29:46","modified_gmt":"2013-10-07T00:29:46","slug":"edmonton-painted-time-capsules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/2013\/10\/07\/edmonton-painted-time-capsules\/","title":{"rendered":"This Is Edmonton: Painted Time Capsules"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hand-painted signs have more or less become a thing of the past, replaced by press-printed, illuminated signs, digital signboards, and the like. Designed on computers for stylistic perfection, modern-day commercial graphics are so ubiquitous that we barely notice them. But there was a time when businesses required, not computer-based design skills, but skills with a paintbrush to broadcast their services to passersby.<\/p>\n

Remnants of this commercial history are all over the city, on the facades of old buildings downtown, on Whyte, and any other part of the city that was built before World War II. They are fading reminders of a time when many commercial products were made locally, and when every transaction was a personal one.<\/p>\n

All photographs by Edmonton photographer Coinoath (Ken) Sarsfield<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\u00a9
The Sugar Bowl on 89 Avenue in Garneau, the “Sweetest Place in Town” since 1947.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\u00a9
The former Podersky’s Furniture on Whyte Avenue in Old Strathcona.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The former Dreger’s Kitchen Centre on Whyte Avenue in Old Strathcona.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\u00a9
A former blacksmith and farm implements dealer trumpets its existence on the false front of the Minchau Block on 81 Avenue in Old Strathcona.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\u00a9
On the rear facade of an apartment down the block from the former Army & Navy department store on 97 Street in the Quarters, a finger points the way.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\u00a9
The side facades of downtown’s art deco Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Building harken back to the bank’s pre-merger identity as the Imperial Bank of Canada.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\u00a9
Currently being demolished as part of the Kelly-Ramsay Block redevelopment, this sign advertised the Eaton’s “Groceteria” on Rice-Howard Way, downtown.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\u00a9
3D signage on the Birks Building on Jasper Avenue, downtown.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\u00a9
CKUA has recently moved to new\/old digs in the reconstructed Alberta Hotel, but their iconic sign still adorns their former building on Jasper Avenue, downtown.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\u00a9
The newest painted sign in this collection, this sign identifies for passersby the downtown location of Chez Pierre, Edmonton’s very first strip club, which opened to great controversy in the early 1970s.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\u00a9
A Sweet Caporal Cigarettes sign on the side of the Koermann Block on 96 Street in the Quarters.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\u00a9
The rear of the Gibson Block, Edmonton’s Flat Iron, has recently-refreshed historic signs for Pepsi, the Edmonton Journal, and also for a barber shop and turkish baths (not shown). Located on Jasper Avenue in the Quarters.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\u00a9
The former Lodge Hotel, the future home of the Ukrainian Canadian Archives and Museum of Alberta, offered clean, furnished and quiet rooms at monthly rates on Jasper Avenue in the Quarters.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\u00a9
Some of the painted signage on the downtown Mercer Warehouse on 104 Street was refreshed a couple of years ago when the building was renovated. A number of other faded and almost-indecipherable signs still share space on the facade, however.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\u00a9
Nabob Coffee, Crown Brand Corn Syrup, and an unidentified brand of biscuits and confection take up nearly the entire facade of the H.W. Shaw Building on 105 Street downtown, now the home of Yellowhead Brewery.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Copyright
The Buena Vista Apartments on 124 Street in Oliver, currently the home of the Glenora Bed and Breakfast Inn, originally housed a grocer on the main floor. The City Grocer made their own sausage, and you could simply call 81631 for more information.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hand-painted signs have more or less become a thing of the past, replaced by press-printed, illuminated signs, digital signboards, and the like. Designed on computers for stylistic perfection, modern-day commercial graphics are so ubiquitous that we barely notice them. But there was a time when businesses required, not computer-based design skills, but skills with aContinue reading “This Is Edmonton: Painted Time Capsules”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8125,"featured_media":2510,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,15,22,25],"tags":[76,138,139],"class_list":["post-2450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-curiosities","category-history","category-photos","category-spacing","tag-edmonton","tag-history-2","tag-painted-signs"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThis Is Edmonton: Painted Time Capsules - Spacing Edmonton<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/2013\/10\/07\/edmonton-painted-time-capsules\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tom Young\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/2013\/10\/07\/edmonton-painted-time-capsules\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/2013\/10\/07\/edmonton-painted-time-capsules\/\",\"name\":\"This Is Edmonton: Painted Time Capsules - Spacing Edmonton\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/2013\/10\/07\/edmonton-painted-time-capsules\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/2013\/10\/07\/edmonton-painted-time-capsules\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2013\/10\/Macdonald-Consolidated.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-10-07T14:00:27+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/#\/schema\/person\/5901e4314ddea756acba6fe2eddee56b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/2013\/10\/07\/edmonton-painted-time-capsules\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/2013\/10\/07\/edmonton-painted-time-capsules\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/2013\/10\/07\/edmonton-painted-time-capsules\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2013\/10\/Macdonald-Consolidated.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/edmonton\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2013\/10\/Macdonald-Consolidated.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":600,\"caption\":\"A series of associated companies (A. 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