McDonald's sign (Pine Bluff, Arkansas)
McDonald's Store #433 Sign | |
Location in Arkansas | |
Location | 2819 S. Olive St., Pine Bluff, Arkansas |
---|---|
Coordinates | 34°12′7″N 92°0′24″W / 34.20194°N 92.00667°W |
Area | less than one acre |
Built | c. 1962 |
Architectural style | Single-arch McDonald's sign |
NRHP reference No. | 06000411[1] |
Added to NRHP | August 21, 2006 |
The McDonald's Sign, also known as McDonald's Store #433 Sign, in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, United States, is one of only a few surviving examples of a single-arch McDonald's sign. The sign was erected in 1962 and remained at its original location until 2007. That year, McDonald's Store #433 moved and the sign was renovated and moved to the new location. The McDonald's sign was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 2006.
History[edit]
The neighborhood of South Main Street in Pine Bluff was mostly residential until the mid-20th-century, when commercial enterprises began to appear in the area. In 1962, owner Mike Retzer built McDonald's Store #433 at 1300 South Main Street. The building the standard corporate design for the era: a red, white and yellow motif with arches projecting through the roof. The restaurant opened on July 3, 1962.[2]
In August 2007, it was announced that the location would close by year's end. A new building was built in the 2800 block of South Olive Street, about two miles from the original location. Initially, it was unknown what the sign's fate would be; by September 2007, it was announced that the sign would move to the new location.[3][4]
In September, the sign was dismantled and transported to Skylite Sign & Neon in Mabelvale, Arkansas, for renovation work that lasted until the next month.[5]
Design[edit]
The McDonald's sign in Pine Bluff represents a transition between the "Speedee" sign and the now-ubiquitous double golden arches. The design featured in Pine Bluff was used for one year and was relatively rare even when it was being used, even more so today.[2] The first double golden arches sign appeared just three months after the Pine Bluff store opened.[3]
Typical of the single-arch style from McDonald's early years, the Pine Bluff sign has plastic panels held in a metal frame and red advertising space midway up the sign. The sign was manufactured by Sign Crafters of Evansville, Indiana and the plastic sheeting was made by Rohm & Haas Company of Philadelphia.[2]
Ray Kroc designed the sign after seeing an image of the McDonald family crest.[2] The arch itself evokes modernism. In Orange Roofs, Golden Arches: The Architecture of American Chain Restaurants Phillip Langdon stated the arch was symbolic of a "buoyant spirit: a feeling of skyward momentum, symbolic of an aerospace age in which man could hurtle himself into the heavens."[2] Langdon goes on to state that the purpose of the McDonald's arch was to bring a sense of structural modernism in a roadside hamburger stand.[2]
Historic significance[edit]
The U.S. National Register of Historic Places added the Pine Bluff McDonald's sign to its listings on August 21, 2006, as McDonald's Store #433 Sign.[1] McDonald's has used a variety of designs for its signs; consequently, early examples are exceedingly rare.[2] The sign in Pine Bluff, Arkansas' only known surviving example of an early single arch McDonald's sign, is also a good example of a rare early backlit plastic sign. Backlit plastic signs were popularized post-World War II and revolutionized the sign industry through the 1950s and 60s.[2]
It remains unclear how many single-arch McDonald's signs still exist. One was still in use in Biloxi, Mississippi, until it was destroyed in 2005's Hurricane Katrina.[3] The store on MacArthur Boulevard in Springfield, Illinois, had a single arch up until 2006. Others exist in Magnolia, New Jersey;[7] Green Bay, Wisconsin;[8] St Clair Shores, Michigan; Warren, Michigan; Montrose, Colorado; Independence, Missouri; Winter Haven, Florida; Belleville, Illinois; and Muncie, Indiana. Another is on display in The Henry Ford museum in Dearborn, Michigan. The sign in Pine Bluff, which has been removed as of October 2023[citation needed], was the only such sign that has its own listing on the National Register, though a few others may exist as contributing properties within historic districts. It is likely that most single-arch signs were incorporated into private collections.[3]
See also[edit]
- Golden Arches
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Jefferson County, Arkansas
- Oldest McDonald's restaurant in Downey, California
References[edit]
- ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "McDonald's Store #433 Sign, Pine Bluff, Jefferson County". Arkansas Historic Preservation Program. January 17, 2013. Archived from the original on April 20, 2024. Retrieved 2024-04-20.
- ^ a b c d Linn, Mike. "McDonald's gets one-arch, '62 sign to go", Arkansas Democrat Gazette, September 25, 2007, accessed April 22, 2008.
- ^ Duke, Richard. "Historic sign may not move with restaurant," Pine Bluff Commercial (Pine Bluff, Arkansas), August 16, 2007, accessed April 22, 2008.
- ^ Nugent, Jeannie. "Restoring the golden arch," Pine Bluff Commercial (Pine Bluff, Arkansas), October 27, 2007, accessed April 22, 2008.
- ^ Dan Gleiter [@DanGleiter] (April 20, 2016). "McDonald's 1962-era single-arch sign in Lancaster County is being dismantled, @PennLive" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ "McDonald's Sign | Magnolia, New Jersey. | G W | Flickr". 19 November 2005. Retrieved Nov 17, 2020.
- ^ "McDonald's Sign 4099 | Erected in roughly 1960 this McDonald… | Flickr". 15 June 2009. Retrieved Nov 17, 2020.
Further reading[edit]
- Auer, Michael J. "The Preservation of Historic Signs", Preservation Brief #25, October 1991, National Park Service, accessed April 22, 2008.
- Langdon, Philip. Orange Roofs, Golden Arches: The Architecture of American Chain Restaurants, (Google Books), Joseph, 1986, (ISBN 0-7181-2788-9).
- Buildings and structures in Pine Bluff, Arkansas
- Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Arkansas
- Individual signs on the National Register of Historic Places
- McDonald's buildings and structures
- National Register of Historic Places in Pine Bluff, Arkansas
- Restaurants in Arkansas
- Tourist attractions in Pine Bluff, Arkansas
- 1962 establishments in Arkansas
- 1962 works