"That's what a Vac-U-Form can do!"[1]

TechShop used to have a medium sized vacuum forming machine, but it was lost in one of their moves. Those are useful for tool trays. Lay down all the tools for some kit, vacuum-form a tray, and put the tray in a case for the kit. Often used in aerospace, where you want to make sure nobody left a wrench inside the engine or fuel tank.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCvgvWiZNe8

I grew up seeing these signs all over and never gave them a thought. I love articles that bring something to my attention that I never thought to think about.

Aside: If you are a sign aficionado the American Sign Museum in Cincinnati will make you very happy: https://www.americansignmuseum.org/

Wow, we used to have a florist/floral nursery around my parent's place LONG ago (like, they had to have ripped it down by the early 2000s) and for years I vaguely recalled it having a somewhat unique looking sign with a big globe lamp and two stacked, rounded-corner rectangular plastic signs. This was almost certainly the brand of sign it was, and the installation of the sign was probably some time in the 1970s. Amazing what small, inconsequential mysteries get solved by a blog article.

Thanks for this, its really neat. One suggestion, I would love it if you also included some photos of these lit up at night.

Oh wow, just got my first age-verification redirect because I'm Australian and the 'online safety act' is kicking in. Welp.

Signage has such a huge impact on how we experience an environment, the vibes it gives off.

Comparing the US and the Netherlands - the US seems much more chaotic and organic than the Netherlands with its unified government standard typeface.

See also: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muffler_man>

If you ever find yourself in Cincinnati, Ohio, one of the most underrated things there is the "American Sign Museum" which has many examples of this form of signage, as well as the history of advertising signage. They even have a neon glass signworks on-site.

Ironically, the informational signage on the exhibits is somewhat lacking, so I recommend taking the free guided tour, which is about 45-60 minutes in length.

There's another transmission shop near me with the same exact sign. Different name and phone number and different colors.

I can see why they'd only want to make that cutaway mold once though.

Something about that rounded-rectangle shape is evocative of the YouTube logo - perhaps I was primed towards that as one of the signs shown is advertising "TV's".

This is great. I've been wondering about these for decades.