Holiday Signs

Holiday Signs Rekindle Happy Memories

I'm not old by any stretch of the imagination, but still I feel a warm glow inside whenever I see vintage holiday signs. What is it about them that makes me feel so good? I don't know; but no matter where I am or what time of year it is, show me an old metal Christmas sign and I get that fuzzy nostalgic feeling.

Retro signs are really neat because they're appropriate in so many venues -- whether it's somewhere in your house, like a game room, or a business or even a restaurant. We really like going to restaurants that have tons of artifacts from my childhood, or my dad's or his dad's. It's really neat to walk in and see one of them hanging in the entry.

These signs help me take a step back in time to -- I don't know -- a simpler age when people were nicer to each other and pleasures were basic, like mom's peach pie baking in the oven, or me sitting next to grandpa while he told stories of when he was a boy, or the first time I carved a pumpkin without any help.

In our house we put out different vintage signs with the changing holidays. We like to put one or two in our front window. People coming to visit always get a kick out of seeing them -- especially eerie Halloween images with really cool cats and ghosts and spooky drawings. Boy, they really bring back memories, don't they? In our game room we have a little fridge for the kids to keep their sodas. We brighten it up by hanging a retro sign on the door.

Metal signs are perfect for businesses because they're simple to hang, don't cause any mess like flocking and don't use any electricity! It doesn't matter what the business does -- everyone loves taking a trip back in time.

Even though I enjoy the Halloween ones, I guess the signs I love the most are for Christmas. They really take me back to when I was a kid -- trimming our real pine tree, smelling Mom's cookies in the oven and listening to Dad try to remember all the words to "The Twelve Days of Christmas." We used to laugh and laugh because he always got so messed up. It's pretty amazing how so many memories can be held in one vintage metal sign of Santa Claus or a snowman.

Now there I go, getting lost walking down memory lane. Isn't it something? We may not be young forever, but we will always hold such memories in our hearts, just waiting for those wonderful holiday signs to rekindle them in our minds.