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Memphis Type History: Signs and Stories from Just Around the Corner
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About Memphis Type History: Signs And Stories From Just
Product Description Tourists and Memphians alike whizz by dozens of signs everyday. If they could speak up and tell their story to us, it would open a whole new world of insight into the history and culture of Memphis. In Memphis Type History: Signs and Stories From Just Around the Corner, nineteen of these everyday signs are beautifully captured by painter Rebecca Phillips. Accompanying the artwork and historical photographs is the history behind the signs, as told by the people who experienced it. Smell the fresh popcorn at the Lamar Theater, be soothed by the soulful atmosphere of Soulsville, U.S.A., and discover the scandalous history of a red neon lady. From the building with unexplained bumps in the night to the evolution of whole neighborhoods, you'll discover intriguing stories from around the corner that will make your next drive in Memphis more meaningful than you'd ever imagined. From the Author The nature of signs is to represent something greater than themselves. In this book you will find that signs are the gateway for the stories of the businesses and the people who lived, worked, and sometimes sought safe haven, behind them. Examples like the Universal Life Insurance Company, during the time of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s, assassination, or the Lorraine Motel for Stax recording artists, or even the great Sam Phillips, whose desire for creative change started Sam Phillips Recording Studio. Each chapter offers a glimpse into various slices of life across time and geography. The people who interacted with what the signs symbolize are interesting and important both socially and historically. One of the most recognizable signs in this book, the Sputnik at Joe's Liquors, represents the creative vision of a quiet inventor, hardly known to the world, who gifted us with spectacular road signs across the country. The Sputnik also represents how a community will rally around something it loves to restore it to a former glory. While interesting, the engineering specs of the Sputnik do not tell anything about the sign's true importance because a sign is a reflection of something more important than itself. The history concerning most of these places is discovered exclusively in the stories people tell. The little slices of life, the people who accomplished so much in the businesses behind these logos, and the way these signs overlooked the city's transformation, combine to form a colorful history of Memphis. Therefore, the businesses' histories, as told by people who experienced them, tie the book together. Their stories reveal what life was like for people of all walks of life throughout several decades in Memphis. Through hours of interviews and research, we discovered that each of these places experienced changes we can all relate to: political movements, technology, and customers' whims. The signs remained even after major changes in the surrounding area or in the evolution of the business the signs represented. In some cases, like Leahy's Weekly Rentals, the signs featured here are now gone. In others, like the Chicago Pizza Factory archway, they have been recreated to express something new without forgetting the old. In the pages that follow, an intersection of art, history, and personal stories will allow an atmospheric experience of Memphis through paintings, photography, and personal stories. Passersby have whizzed by some of these signs for years without really taking a second glance. Others may already know quite a bit about these signs and their histories. Whatever the case, we hope you'll discover a little something new. Here, you will get a glimpse into what the places behind the signs once were and what they will become. By the time this book finds its way to some of you, it's likely some of these places will already be different from what we have described here. Our hope is that this book will encourage you to explore Memphis in a new way by rekindling your love for the unusual, the overlooke
