Tuesday, July 25, 2017

Urban Bottle, (Pacific Fruit Warehouse), Casper Wyoming



This is the old Pacific Fruit Warehouse which as been remodeled as Rocca's Sicilian restaurant and Urban Bottle, a liquor store.  Urban Bottle features a new painted sign resembling those that were common in southern Europe, with that look no doubt being intentional.

Toyota Body Shop, Casper Wyoming


This photo is proof that not all "ghost signs" are from before World War Two.  The old Toyota body shop in downtown Casper Wyoming, which had this sign painted on it during the 1970s.

Utility Box, Casper Wyoming


This utility box has been on this site before from when it featured downtown historic Casper buildings.  Now it features native fish.

Saturday, June 10, 2017

Morey Mercantile Company Building, Denver Colorado


This building, and the one to the immediately left, were owned by the C. S. Morey Mercantile Company.  I'm not sure of its vintage or what its used for today.

Inkmonstr mural, Denver Colorado.


I have no idea what the story behind this is, but this Inkmonstr mural is located in downtown Denver, Colorado.

Monday, June 5, 2017

Spratlen-Anderson Wholesale Grocery Company (Edbrooke Lofts), Denver Colorado


This is the Spratlen-Anderson Wholesale Grocery Company Building, and neighboring buildings, in downtown Denver Colorado. Today this it the Edbrooke Lofts.  The building was constructed in 1905 with a floor added in 1911.  The grocery company was dissolved in 1923 after which the Davis Brothers Drug Company occupied the company until 1957.  It was converted to lofts in 1990.

The M. J. O'Fallon Plumbing Company (Colorado Saddlery) Building, Denver Colorado


This building in Lower Downtown Denver was built for the M. J. O'Fallon Plumbing Supply Company whose painted bricks still adorn it.  The most famous industry to occupy this 1906 structure, however, was Colorado Saddlery which only moved out of it in 2005 after having occupied it since 1945.  Today it houses shops and lofts.

"LoDo Wellness Center", Denver Colorado


I've been going by this giant mural of a guitar playing cowboy for years and I have in mind that it used to be a Sheplers store in downtown Denver.  Now, of course, in weedy Denver it's apparently a marijuana dispensary.  Oh well.

Tuesday, May 23, 2017

Wax Trax, Denver Colorado.


This is a photograph of Wax Trax, the legendary Denver record story located in two side by side old buildings in that city.  Currently its adorned with a large painting of Lemmy Kilmister, the late front man for the band Motorhead.

This photo was obviously taken from a distance, and inside a vehicle, so the large mural isn't easily visible in the photo but it was taken from a well known photograph of Kilmister in which he's wearing a short brimmed hat featuring a U.S. Army crossed saber device and an Ordinance branch device.  Kilmister had a thing for military paraphernalia.

Sunday, May 14, 2017

Painted Bricks: Purina Elevator, Denver Colorado

A new elevator mural:



Formerly:

Purina Elevator, Denver Colorado:





Terrible photo, but the elevator features a puppy playing with a ball.
 Hmmm. . . puppy replaced by a kitten. . . symbolic?

Sunday, April 23, 2017

Sonic Rainbow, Casper Wyoming: Independent Record Store Day, 2017


This store has featured here before. This is the Sonic Rainbow record store in Casper Wyoming.  Every year it features new original window art for Independent Record Store Day.  On this occasion, its patrons were lined up early in the morning waiting for it to open for that event.


The crowd would grow larger on this rainy morning. These people were there early.

Thursday, March 16, 2017

Lex Anteinternet: 1917 The Year that made Casper what it is. Or ma...

Lex Anteinternet: 1917 The Year that made Casper what it is. Or ma...: I have no before and after pictures for Casper that would cleanly show what the town looked like in January, 1916 and then later looked lik...

Monday, January 30, 2017

Saturday, December 3, 2016

Owl Mural, Pinedale Wyoming


A badly framed image of a building belong, I think, to the Forest Service in Pinedale Wyoming.  Nice mural of an owl.

Saturday, November 5, 2016

Lex Anteinternet: Rally for Public Lands, Casper Wyoming, November 5...

Rally for Public Lands, Casper Wyoming, November 5, 2016


 keep-it-public-files_main-graphic



 Rally for Public Lands:



 Join Us!

—WHEN—

Saturday, November 5th

1:00 pm – 3:00 pm

—WHERE—

Izaak Walton League,

4205 Fort Caspar Road

—WHAT—

Live music, keynote speakers, food & drinks!

Friday, October 28, 2016

Abandoned building, Port Arthur Texas


I don't know what this building was, but it must have been a good looking building in its day.

Downtown Port Arthur is undergoing a much needed renovation. It's a bit of a mess right now, but it's being worked on.

Hotel Sabine, Port Arthur Texas


These photos depict the Hotel Sabine in Port Arthur, Texas. The hotel is an abandoned ruin and has been for decades.


It's a ten story building, built in 1930.

Refinery Tanks, Harris County Texas


These are refinery tanks located quite near the San Jacinto Battleground.   The refinery has painted some tanks with scenes commemorating the battle, a couple of which are depicted here. As these were taken from a moving car, they aren't the best photographs in the world.


Sunday, September 4, 2016

Lex Anteinternet: Sign of the times? Casper Petroleum Club to close...

Lex Anteinternet: Sign of the times? Casper Petroleum Club to close...: Founded in 1949 with the purpose to “aid the industrial and productive interests of the State of Wyoming" the Casper Petroleum Club, a...

Saturday, July 16, 2016

First National Bank of Meeteetse, Meeteetse Wyoming.


This is obviously not a painted building, but this small brick building which now serves as a museum does provide a nice example of early 20th Century ornamental brick work.  The small bank was built in 1901.  It is typical for small town banks of this period.

Sunday, June 26, 2016

Lex Anteinternet: What Are You Reading?

Over on our most active blog, Lex Anteinternet: What are you reading?:

What are you reading?




A new trailing thread, dedicated to what we're currently reading.

And. . . we hope. . . with participation from you.

What are you reading right  now? Add it down in the commentary section
__________________________________________________________________________________

June 21, 2016

Give Me Eighty Men

I'm presently reading Give Me Eighty Men by Shannon Smith. It's a history of the Fetterman Fight, and a history of the history of the Fetterman Fight. I'll review it when I'm done, but I'll note that the favorable mention of the book by the authors of The Heart of All That Is caused me to pick it up, even though I'd been inclined to previously avoid it.

So far, I'm enjoying it, and its certainly raising a lot questions in my mind about the Fetterman battle, although I'm reserving my judgment on various things so far.
Stop over and let us know what you're reading!

That thread:  What Are You Reading?

Sidewalk Compass, Denver Colorado.



Sidewalk compass located near the Brown Palace in Denver. Teh odd angle of the bottom photograph is explained by a desire not to have my shadow in it.

Saturday, June 25, 2016

Barth Hotel, Denver Colorado


I don't know anything about it, other than that the Barth Hotel is located in Lower Downtown Denver.

Friday, June 24, 2016

The ? Supply Company, Denver Colordo


A snapshot, this depicts a building that has a tile sign noting that its a supply  company, but I'm not sure what sort of supply company, as a tree obscures that part of thesign.

Thursday, June 23, 2016

Icehouse, Denver Colorado


This old building in Lower Downtown Denver bears a name that is somewhat confusing.  With a name suggesting cold storage, the building was in fact built as the Littleton Creamery and Beatrice Foods Cold Storage Warehouse.  Now, however, its an apartment and condominium building and it also houses a bar named the Icehouse Tavern.

Wednesday, June 22, 2016

View House, Denver Colrado


The sign for the View House cites it was established in 1915.  I don't otherwise know anything about it, other than that it's right across from Coors Field.

Tuesday, June 21, 2016

Monday, June 20, 2016

Bar, downtown Denver


Not sure of the name, but its next to Wax Tracks in Denver Colorado.  An example of a contemporary bar mural, advertising Pabst Blue Ribbon.  This place obviously also offers pizza.

Saturday, June 18, 2016

The Clyfford Still Museum, Denver Colorado


Most of the signs up here are of older painted brick signs, of course. There are exceptions, and this is one, but this is particularly an exception as I'm going to comment. 

Commentary from me isn't unusual, but usually it's on our Lex Anteinternet blog and not here.  But I cannot resist.

This is a very large sign skillfully rendering a photo of Clyfford Still into a sign. The big streaks on the end of the sign is a late example of Still's allegedly artistic work, better regarded as junk.

Still was a 20th Century artist who, starting off in the 1920s, had a public art career. Early on he actually painted figures but, starting in the 1930s, his work began to somewhat resemble that of other period modern artists and following that it was reduced to colored blotches such as we see Still, smoking a cigarette, contemplating here.  It's ironic that, in order to represent Still to the public, the museum has to use a photograph, rather than one of his crappy pointless blotched up canvasses.

On the side of the photo the following is set out:
The canvas was his ally.
The paint and trowel were
his weapons. And the
art world was his enemy.
Apparently art itself, at least in an intelligible fashion capable of conveying some meaning to 99.9999% of humanity, was also his enemy as the result of the use of his weapons was the slaying of intelligibility.  It's complete junk.

But then, a lot of "modern" art is.

Well, in that war the guerilla of public indifference is probably the victor, as the big result of stuff like this is the separation of humanity from its artists.  So, if any meaning was intended to be conveyed, it's conveyed to a pretty self contained little crowd.

Jackson's Sports Bar, Denver Colorado


Mural on the side of Jackson's Sports Bar in Denver, which is right across the street from Coors Field.  This was taken from a distance as I was waiting to get into a Rockies game at the time.

Pepsi Cola sign and The Dutch Mill sign, Champa Street Denver Colorado.


Sometimes the photos are just bad.  The nature of snapshots, I guess.

Pepsi sign and The Dutch Mill sign, Champa Street, downtown Denver.

Friday, June 17, 2016

Thursday, June 16, 2016

Unidentified, Denver Colorado


A sign that's been painted over so many times, it's now pretty much unreadable in any of its variants. Downtown Denver.

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Sonic Rainbow, Casper Wyoming.

 1960s themed Record Store Day poster, commemorating the 20th Anniversary of the store, Sonic Rainbow, in Casper.

Somewhat off topic, independent record store Sonic Rainboy, in Casper, features interesting window art and window paintings fairly frequently, examples of which are here for Independent Record Store Day.


Record Store Day is the third Saturday in April and commemorates independent record stores.

Sunday, March 13, 2016

Buick dealership, Rock Srpings, Wyoming


This is the back of a building in Rock Springs that once housed the Buick dealership.  I'm not sure of the vintage of the dealership but nearby Bunning Park was put in during the early 1920s.

Sunday, February 28, 2016

Wyoming Automotive Company and the Rock Srpings City Hall, Rock Springs Wyoming.


This photo, taken with an Iphone on my way to a deposition, is far from ideal, and was intended to be of the Rock Springs City Hall.  It's also included on our Courthouses of the West blog.  But, more or less coincidentally, the sign for Wyoming Automotive Company can be seen on the building next to the city hall.

I don't know about this particular Wyoming Automotive, and the sign is barely depicted because the trees in the photograph obscure it, but the Wyoming Automotive in Casper was an automobile parts store, and I suspect that this one was or is.