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Next page is our roadside
potpourri page. |
"No Sleeping on Pavement - Silly Signs
and Offbeat Stuff From America's Two-Lane Roads."
By Loren Eyrich
112 pages, over 220 photographs, paperback, $10.95
As
seen on TV
 
Loren Eyrich talked about his book on the Montel Williams Show, Friday, March 17, 2000.
The
editor/publisher of Two-Lane Roads quarterly has compiled over 220 of his favorite photos
from six years of touring America's backroads in one book. You'll see such favorites
as, "Jody's Used Tires, guaranteed 1 mile," and "No Sleeping on
Pavement," (which became the book's title); plus the editor's commentary about each
silly sign. In addition to funny signs, you'll also see some little-known roadside
attractions, like an outhouse collector, a stove museum, smallest post office, smallest
church, smallest police station; plus rural mailboxes and road
food.
Loren's first book - order your autographed
copy today! Just $10.95 plus shipping & handling. Order here. |
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| Here
are just a few photos from the book:
Chapter 2 - Rural
mailboxes |
Mailboxes which seem to defy the laws of gravity.
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One man's solution to the high cost of living...
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Don't discard that old appliance, make a mailbox from it! |
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Chapter 3 - Juxtaposition
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Juxtaposition \n (1665):
The act or an instance of placing two or more things side by side.Juxtapose \vt
(1851)
To place side by side unexpected combination of colors, shapes, and ideas. |
Either sign, by itself, not funny.
But juxtapose the two signs, and it's pretty silly, isn't it?Fishing Bridge was named
in 1914 for the excellent fishing here. Trouble is, fishing in this cutthroat trout
spawning ground was just too easy, and threatening the species. Since 1973, there is
"No Fishing" on Fishing Bridge!
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming |
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| There is only one place in North America where crocodiles are found in the
wild - the coastal waters of southeast Florida. Lake Surprise was named not by someone
surprised by a crocodile, but by builders of the Florida East Coast Railroad, when they
encountered a lake in their path, not charted by the surveyors.
US 1, Key Largo, Florida |
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Chapter 4 - Eat Here, Get Gas
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Signs
which have a double meaning. Some years back, the owner of a truck stop wanted to increase
his business. Drivers would surely enjoy the convenience of his one-stop truck stop, if
only they knew about it in advance. Folks whizzing by at 70 mph didn't have time to read,
"We have one-stop convenience, a restaurant and a gas station." So the truck
stop owner erected this sign:
EAT HERE
GET GAS
And folks did stop. They did enjoy the one-stop convenience. But then a
tourist saw the double meaning of the sign, snapped a picture, and sent it off to a
newspaper or magazine. The editor saw the irony of it, and published the photo.
And so, "Eat Here, Get Gas" has become an American standard, a
classic example of a sign with multiple interpretations.
Here then, are a few of my favorite signs with double meanings: |
On US 301, North Carolina |
...but are they guaranteed for one mile, before they may pop??
Mississippi
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And yes, I have eaten at D&H Bar-B-Que, and I highly recommend it! US 301, Manning,
South Carolina |
But what about residents - they are encouraged to dump their garbage?Old Town, Florida |
Do we REALLY need to tell people this?US 301, Florida |
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Chapter 6 - Smallest & Largest
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Seems every town in America has some claim to fame, usually posted on the
"Welcome" sign.
"Frog capitol of the world" -Rayne, Louisiana
"America's sweetest town" -Clewiston, Florida
"Sweet onion city" -Vidalia, Georgia
"Easternmost point in the USA" -Lubec, Maine
"Birthplace of Paul Bunyan" -Bemidji, Minnesota
"Cleanest city in Texas" -Shiner, Texas...and so on. |
| America's smallest
post office, documented by the postal service. The steel shed, approximately 7x8 feet, was
pressed into service in 1953, when the former post office and general store burned down.
The Ochopee post office serves about 400 patrons,
most of them Miccosukee Indians and employees of the National Park Service - Big Cypress
Preserve.
US 41, Ochopee, Florida A |
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One of dozens of frog
murals in "The Frog Capital of the world", Rayne, Louisiana |
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| World's smallest
police station. If you drive through the town of Carrabelle, you just may see the town
police officer using the official police phone inside the booth.
US 98, Carrabelle, Florida |
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Loren's first book - order
your autographed copy today! Just $10.95 plus shipping & handling.
Order here. |
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