The original Cities Service sign was built in 1940 and replaced with the CITGO sign when the company changed its name in 1965.
In 1979, at the urging of then Governor Edward J. King, CITGO turned off the sign as a symbol of energy conservation, even though it used only $60 per week worth of power. The sign remained off for four long years.
CITGO decided to dismantle the deteriorating sign, but when the work crew arrived, defenders of the sign stopped the demolition. Once again the people of Boston made a difference. Backers of the sign claimed the sign was an excellent example of urban neon art and 'as Boston as baked beans.' The group fought and asked the Boston landmarks commission to declare it a landmark.
Boston mothers played an important role in the protest. At one time, the sign was visible from the maternity ward at Beth Israel Hospital, where mothers-to-be timed their contractions by its pulsing flash in the evening sky.
Crab feast at Sarah and Carrie's house in Watertown.
Patty and I at Fenway Park on Monday. Lousy game; a shut out, but a great time.
These guys have been in business for decades, their wish apparently still unrealized.
Assorted
California Job Cases at my sister Sarah's house. "Thanks to the publication of stories in Family Circle, Good Housekeeping and other magazines, which pictured California type-cases displaying knick-knacks, the popularity of the case zoomed. At the height of their popularity they were selling as high at $30 each. One scrapper cried when he told of burning up over 10,000 of them before they returned to popularity."
My mom was the initiator of this shadow box tradition in my family. Looking for assorted miniatueres to fit the slots that formerly housed metal type adds an ongoing mission to our travels on earth. Here's my latest, still in progress.
In 1979, at the urging of then Governor Edward J. King, CITGO turned off the sign as a symbol of energy conservation, even though it used only $60 per week worth of power. The sign remained off for four long years.
CITGO decided to dismantle the deteriorating sign, but when the work crew arrived, defenders of the sign stopped the demolition. Once again the people of Boston made a difference. Backers of the sign claimed the sign was an excellent example of urban neon art and 'as Boston as baked beans.' The group fought and asked the Boston landmarks commission to declare it a landmark.
Boston mothers played an important role in the protest. At one time, the sign was visible from the maternity ward at Beth Israel Hospital, where mothers-to-be timed their contractions by its pulsing flash in the evening sky.
Crab feast at Sarah and Carrie's house in Watertown.
Patty and I at Fenway Park on Monday. Lousy game; a shut out, but a great time.
These guys have been in business for decades, their wish apparently still unrealized.
Assorted California Job Cases at my sister Sarah's house. "Thanks to the publication of stories in Family Circle, Good Housekeeping and other magazines, which pictured California type-cases displaying knick-knacks, the popularity of the case zoomed. At the height of their popularity they were selling as high at $30 each. One scrapper cried when he told of burning up over 10,000 of them before they returned to popularity."
My mom was the initiator of this shadow box tradition in my family. Looking for assorted miniatueres to fit the slots that formerly housed metal type adds an ongoing mission to our travels on earth. Here's my latest, still in progress.
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