The American Sign Museum in Cincinnati, OH is a museum dedicated to housing neon signs from American businesses that have come and gone over the past century, or are still here but using different logos or mascots.

The museum is owned and operated by Tod Swormstedt, whose family has owned and published the Signs of the Times publication dedicated to the current state of American signage for over a century. Due to the vast amount of neon signage the museum was receiving and the increasing amount of space needed to house these signs, the museum moved to a disused Cincinnati factory in 2012.

Featured at the American Sign Museum are neon signs such as a fairly rare 1950s- era McDonald’s sign featuring the old Speedee mascot that was the official “Mickey D’s” mascot until the 1960s. Also at the museum are an old Big Boy “slingshot” statue (the Big Boy lost his slingshot in the mid-1980s, when the new owners of the Big Boy franchise decided he needed a makeover), a massive genie (which once adorned an LA carpet cleaning company’s location) that welcomes visitors to the museum, and much, much more.

The museum is open from 10am-4pm on Wednesdays through Saturdays and from noon-4pm on Sundays.

Links:

• http://www.americansignmuseum.org/ (The American Sign Museum’s homepage)