Museum featuring American signs has new home

The American Sign Museum hosts Museum Day where representatives from over 10 museums and historic sites will be on hand to showcase their programs and display items from their collection.
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Posted: 06/17/2012

CINCINNATI (AP) - A brightly painted 20-foot-tall fiberglass genie towering over the entrance of a renovated 1912 Cincinnati factory gives visitors just a hint of the nostalgic icons awaiting them inside the American Sign Museum's new home.

The gigantic genie that was used to advertise a carpet company in 1960s Los Angeles is only one of nearly 500 signs and other items displayed at the new location. The $3.3 million, 20,000-square-foot museum opens next Saturday.

Museum founder and president Tod Swormstedt says the museum outgrew the former Cincinnati location where it debuted in April 2005.

The museum traces the evolution of American signs spanning nearly a century. They include neon and early electric signs as well as hand-painted gold leaf on glass and plastic signs.