My friend Dawn and I recently took our annual road trip. Our 2009 trip along the old National Road, aka US 40, from Ohio to Indianapolis several years ago, was cut short by a family emergency. So we tried again. And we both love the National Road, so it was no hardship to see some of the same sights.
One of them was this great vintage McDonald’s sign, still serving in Richmond.
I’ve seen a few of these in my travels. There’s one on the south side of Indianapolis, or at least there was several years ago when I was last down there. These were the most common style of McDonald’s sign at the beginning of my 1970s kidhood, but they were already starting to be replaced by the next style of McD’s sign.
Remember how these signs used to say “Over x Billion Sold,” and then they got to 99 and ran out of room on the sign? And then, slowly, the signs started saying “Billions and Billions Served,” like this one. But this one is old enough that surely it once read 99 Billion.
By the way, I think three of the sweetest words in the English language are “breakfast all day.”
There’s a little damage on the sign’s west-facing side. Here’s hoping that this isn’t the beginning of creeping rot, and that this great old sign continues to serve for decades to come.
I’ve driven the National Road from its beginning in Baltimore, MD to its end in Vandaila, IL. To read everything I’ve ever written about it, click here.
To get Down the Road in your inbox or reader six days a week, click here to subscribe!
To get my newsletter with previews of what I’m working on, click here to subscribe!
Great shots of an iconic image of recent American history. Nice. Thanks.
The colors of the day really make this sign pop in the photos. Just right!
Thanks for the story and photos. I drove past that sign a hundred times when I lived in Richmond and barely noticed it.
When I’m on a road trip, I’m looking for stuff like this. I wonder what I drive by on my daily commute that I never notice.
I remember when the numbers served was only in the millions.
My fav thing about this post is that you have a friend in ‘real’ life named Dawn.
:-) Dawn and I have gone on annual road trips for 9 years now!
We had one in Bangor, ME since I was a kid. Gone since I took this photo in ’08. There was a Kentucky Fried Chicken next door with the rotating bucket of chicken and the chaser lights on the arrow on the sign’s front and top sides. http://www.panoramio.com/photo/14735708
Great sign. The McDonald’s lettering looks like the logo after the one in the sign I’ve photographed. Perhaps that’s a replacement panel?
I haven’t seen a KFC bucket sign in 10 years or more!