you see these shop signs all over the city, mostly in older neighborhoods - north beach, the tenderloin, the mission... im guessing theyre maybe 40s-50s in time period? anyhow, something just attracted me specifically to this style - maybe its the lettering on some of them, or just an overall design aesthetic. the flashiness of neon is just starting to creep in, but the signs themselves still show an art deco influence, and the signs themselves havent yet become the ready-made plastic, flourescent-lit store signs of the 60s and 70s - theres still an air of craftsmanship to them somehow. no two are ever really completely alike in form. you also see signs very similar to these, also of sheet metal and neon, but without the rounded ends - for some reason, though they still have shapes and lettering that i like, i decided that these ones, with the rounded ends, were more my style. some of these are from businesses now-defunct, but still they remain on the building above their storefront location, a sign of what was before. some of them have been repainted, but the holes for the neon remain, giving a hint of what they used to advertise...its fairly easy to pick out the originals, though...