This is a sign painted on the former location of Kistler Tent & Awning Company. Kistler Tent & Awning still exits, but in a different location.
This photo provides a good example of why we have started this website. The sign, located on a building which is still in central downtown, advertises services that were important in the area at the time the sign was painted. Sheepwagon covers, Herders "Tepees" and Lambing tents were all significant items for Sheep ranching, which was a major industry in the region well in to the 1970s. Ranching is still a significant industry, but the sheep industry has greatly declined.
As an addition to this, I recently noticed that this building, which I'd consider the old Western Book Store building, has this Kistler logo in the cement. Obviously this was the storefront for Kistler Tent and Awning. An interesting thing is that the photos on the bricks depicted above are not on the same building, but an adjoining one. Either Kistler leased the sign space or, probably more likely, it occupied several adjoining buildings at this time.
It's interesting to note that at one time, this business was right on center street, not in a semi industrial part of town, as we'd expect today. That probably says something about how important the sheep cover industry was at the time. The building we are referencing is the one that has the sign noting that it sold gifts and cards, which as a book store it did. In my memory, this building was always a book store, although it no longer is.
