Highway billboards... what's the point?

-
I couldn't wait to write about the old billboards dotting our interstate highways but once I sat down to do it, I wasn't sure what to say.                                              So I did what I always do when I'm unsure... I started researching their history.            I am a nostalgic soul. I love to think about traveling the interstate highway system when it was innovative and new, reading the billboard ads for upcoming rest stops and travel centers...Dairy Queens. 

Turns out billboards were conceived long before the automobile and highways came along, around 1830 in fact. They were basically large posters hung outside businesses to attract passers by. Barnum and Bailey's circus was advertised on early billboards. 
Other early billboards enticed travelers to stay in local hotels, eat in local restaurants, shop local stores. 
Then came the automobile and the billboard business took off, even more so with the advent of the interstate highway system. I don't think I need to explain further.
These days, seems like, just between Moriarty and Edgewood, there are more billboards with faded phone numbers, advertising nothing, than there are ones that are current. Is the billboard business dead?
No, it is not. It's evolving, changing with the times. We see electronic billboards now, opening up doors to all sorts of advertising possibilities. 
The other day I saw a semi truck with a working electronic billboard on its flatbed trailer, advertising a nearby business. I imagine the truck just drove back and forth along the interstate, with cars passing it, their passengers wondering, what the hell...
Who knows? Maybe this is a new chapter for outdoor advertising that I'll be blogging about in the future. Until next time, peace. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The apostrophe... punctuation without a purpose

-
Image
You would think that with my background and education, I would be a stickler for correct grammar and punctuation. Quite the opposite. I studied the English language and its history for my BA, and I have come to realize over the years that language changes and we need to stop holding on to what doesn't serve us anymore. Punctuation for example. Let's start with the apostrophe. There are actually two reasons we use apostrophes. The first is to take the place of a missing letter or letters. Contractions are a good example.  When we smoosh two words together to make one word, or when we shorten a single word, a letter or two are dropped and the apostrophe takes their place. "Do not" becomes "don't", "cannot" becomes "can't", and "we are" becomes "we're." Sometimes we drop the last letter of a word to make its tone more casual. "I'm just thinkin'," again, a missing letter. Another u
Read more

in search of the Lazy J

-
Image
I've noticed over the last few years an abandoned motel along Rt. 66 in Moriarty called the Lazy J.   I've also noticed that the curio shop/thrift store/artist mall business in the east mountains is growing by leaps and bounds.  Church Street Market in Edgewood is a good example. Local artists/artisans can rent a space and sell their wares. It's a little out of the way but even people from Albuquerque visit.  The Lazy J would make an excellent artists mall, too. I loved the idea so I decided to find out who the owner is and if they are interested in renting or selling the place. Not as easy as you would think.  I searched online and found nothing helpful.  So I stopped by the motel to see if there were any signs on the property that might lead me to the owner.  There was a handwritten sign on the office door...quite old but with a phone number. I snapped a photo of it and made a mental note to call the next day. Then I promptly forgot about it.  About a week lat
Read more

creative solutions to some big problems

-
Image
1036517156700455/div> I have been thinking about school and all its problems a lot lately. My funny, imaginative grandson Oliver is old enough for early education and I don't think he should go.  School isn't what it used to be. It's an outdated, cumbersome mode of helping our kids learn. I would also argue that it often squelches the spontaneous, sparkling creativity young children possess. Most importantly, it is becoming dangerous to attend public school. I don't think I need to explain more.  We must face the fact that the system could be better. It could reflect all the learning tools and styles that work well in today's world. We need to quit holding on.  Here are some ideas regarding the school bus driver shortage and in many cases, the teacher shortage: 1. Each week (month, whatever), one third of learners in a school learn online, watching live classes at home, public library, or community center. Next week, it's another third, etc.  2. E
Read more