Sunday, May 2, 2021

Silly Signs!

RHYS BOWEN: When you read this I'm driving between Phoenix and Marin County, California so I'm not in a position to discuss deep and meaningful matters. I thought a bit of frivolity was in order:

This post came to me when I was driving behind a van the other day and its sign said "Olive Exterminator".

And I thought--why would they want to exterminate olives? Aren't olives harmless? Delightful, actually and good for you when they turn into olive oil. Had this man had a bad experience with an olive?  I'll never know but it got me thinking about other really strange signs I've seen:

Outside a shopping center: European Foods.  Puppies. 

A street sign: State Prison. Surprise.

And this:


I know that tomatoes are not well tolerated by those with acid stomach, but does it really need a sign on a tree?  It's one of those we'll never know the answer to.

I couldn't resist this, courtesy of Keith Snyder:



And finally the sign to end all signs:


This is one stop shopping at its best! Especially eating pickled eggs while you are getting a tattoo.

So do you have any weird and wonderful signs to share?

43 comments:

  1. Oh, goodness, how funny!

    Seen on a signboard:
    FOR SALE
    PARACHUTE
    ONLY USED ONCE
    NEVER OPENED

    My favorite: on the side of a Chipolte Mexican Grill truck:
    NOTICE
    DRIVERS DO NOT
    CARRY BURRITOS.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joan, you made my first good laugh of the day with the parachute

      Delete
    2. One of my all-time favorites. A church's sign announced, "LET JESUS WASH AWAY YOUR SINS." Next door was a laundromat, advertising: 25¢ WASH, FREE DRY.

      Delete
  2. I love these. Sometimes a list circulates of items seen in church bulletin. I don't know if they are true or not, but I always remember, "Weight Watchers meets on Wednesday at noon. Enter by the wide doors."

    When my family went on a driving vacation in West Africa, we crossed over from Burkina Faso into northern Ghana and immediately were met by gloriously painted vehicles and shops that combined religion and strange partners. Praise Jesus Auto Repair and Funeral Services. God is My Saviour Fine Clothing and Machine Repair. And so on.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Edith, you made my second good laugh of the day with the wide doors

    ReplyDelete
  4. Rhys, you made me very curious about the signs mentioning olives and tomatoes

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I’m sure Olive was the name of the company!
      No clue about the tomatoes!

      Delete
  5. Don't you hope Olive is the owner's name? And after all there was a movie about Killer Tomatoes.

    When we were in Tanzania, driving through a village with a huge, colorful market, we saw a tiny wooden roadside stall with a hand-lettered sign: Obama's Gift Shop. Right next to it was another, slightly larger stall: Mrs. Obama's Gift Shop.

    Sadly, we did not stop, so I'll never know what merchandise they carried.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh my goodness, Karen: the mind boggles at what caused the two gift shops to exist side by side. I'm sure there's a story worth writing in it, though!

      Delete
    2. This was eight years ago, when Obama was our President. Many Africans were proud that the United States had a Black leader. It was really cool to see all the support.

      Delete
  6. Good morning, All. Thinking perhaps I need more coffee or perhaps, being from NW Connecticut, the Goshen Boy Scouts’ steak dinner sign is to familiar, what is its strangeness that I’m not seeing? Love the tomato warning.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Elisabeth, I didn’t understand the strangeness of the Boy Scouts advertising either.

      Delete
    2. Nor did I. What are we missing?

      Delete
    3. ((Boy Scout steaks?
      Probably aren’t as delicious as beef steaks or swordfish steaks…))

      Delete
    4. Do you often eat barbecued Boy Scouts?

      Delete
    5. Actually, I don’t eat barbecued anything...it’s a hate charred part thing. As I wrote, just a matter of being very familiar with these kinds of fundraisers that doesn’t make the sign silly.

      Delete
  7. This cracked me up - thanks, Rhys!
    Reminds me of the note printed on the packaging of a box, instructing you to
    Open this
    flap first
    We always dutifully flap before opening.
    We're easily amused...

    ReplyDelete
  8. I love the sign on the outside of the paper towel dispenser that says:
    PULL DOWN
    TEAR UP
    it always makes me want to rip the whole dispenser off the wall, tear it up and throw it away.

    ReplyDelete
  9. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Flap first! That is absolutely hilarious!

    ReplyDelete
  11. And I have a picture of me in front of a drugstore o rural Georgia, where the sign over the door does not say CVS drugs or Walgreen drugs but
    STRANGE DRUGS.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. HANK, we wabt to see the picture.

      Diana

      Delete
    2. 0h! That reminds me of the Booby Market in Burkina Faso. A little supermarket with a hilarious name. I have a picture of me in front of it too!

      Delete
    3. Edith, we want to see your photo too!

      Diana

      Delete
  12. Hilarious, Rhys!

    This reminded me of a sign I saw a long time ago and I think it has been posted on social media.

    "Unattended children will be given free coffee and puppies" or something similar to these words.

    Diana

    ReplyDelete
  13. We attended a corporate function at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Colorado and were treated to this:

    Please only golfers
    beyond this point

    ReplyDelete
  14. I saw another yesterday on the road
    BONNIESPITSTOP
    I READ Bonnie Spit Stop!

    ReplyDelete
  15. There is a lake not far from where I live, and on the road down to the lake is a gas station/convenience store that apparently sells both bait, and sandwiches. Except, if you believe the sign out front, what it really sells are "Bait Sandwiches!"

    ReplyDelete
  16. I love oddball signs. Locally we have CAUTION. CHILDREN. I picture roving gangs of feral children threatening anyone caught outside.
    In south Texas I saw a billboard for Jimmy Nine Toes Lawn Mowing Service.
    And a convenience store like Gigi's: BREAKFAST TACOS NIGHTCRAWLERS.
    Same store: ICE CREAM ICE COLD BEER. A winning combination
    A billboard locally: "Homeowners Insurance Lawyer"
    DICK Law Firm
    Insurance Claim Denied?
    Better get Dick!
    I love that one. Sounds like Saul Goodman.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's like the Slow Children signs, and we always say, poor children.

      Delete
  17. Love the signs, Rhys! I'll have to comment on the caution children signs. I grew up in a house on a corner lot, and there was a sign at that corner that said, words stacked in this order, "Slow Children Playing." I took issue with that. Hahaha!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Years ago my mother was reading a restaurant sign. She wondered how much meat they would get from chicken ribs. Of course those two words didn't belong together. Stay safe and well.

    ReplyDelete
  19. I love these! So funny. There was an hilarious sign war going on between businesses in Christiansburg, VA -- Absolutely hysterical. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/businesses-in-southwestern-virginia-duel-in-sign-war/2021/05/01/64fa183c-aa7d-11eb-a8a7-5f45ddcdf364_story.html

    ReplyDelete