A couple of weekends ago, I attended the “Back to the Fifties” car show in St. Paul. This was the first time for me, despite the fact that we live within walking distance of the Minnesota State Fair Grounds, where the show takes place every year. Since the cars are always cruising around our neighborhood when the event is held, we never felt a pressing need to pay the admission fee. But this year, I decided to get a closer look.

I was glad I brought my camera. I realized what a great opportunity it was to snap photos of car nameplates—the stylized chrome lettering that adorns automobiles. The Fifties was an especially inventive period for “brightwork,” as it is called. For practical reasons, script styles were most often used—it meant that the nameplate could be molded in a single piece of metal. It was a treasure trove.

Here are some gems that I found:

July 9 Update: I just posted these photos (and a few more) on Flickr where you can see them a bit larger.

The “Modern” has seen many incarnations over the years. Originally it was a laundromat—The Modern Laundry. Back in the ‘80s it was The Modern Times Café. Now it’s a Mexican restaurant called La Isla Del Kora. Through it all, those giant art deco letters have always remained. It’s a monument to a “now” that has long passed. That it has survived this long makes me happy. (Photographed on April 29, 2007, in Minneapolis.)

I don’t know or care what this book is about, but the lettering on the cover is incredible. Seen in an antique store in West Salem, Wisconsin, on August 19, 2006.

This vintage sign was destroyed in a fire sparked by lightning over the weekend. If my source is correct, they plan to rebuild it from the original plans.

Photo taken June 8, 2002, in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Update: They did rebuild and restore it, but the neon is gone and the color scheme was changed to black with white letters.

On his blog, Shane Durant is sharing his collection of photos of South African township type and signage. (Update: Link seems to be dead.)

Dimensional letters seen on a building in Cambridge, Massachusetts, August 8, 2006.