Sign for Rose’s Inn, circa 1813. Coventry, Connecticut.

The shapes and content of the signs also document changes in styles and imagery. 18^th-century signs usually feature one central image repeated on each side of an elaborately worked wood sign. A collaborative art form, sign making required sign painters to work with woodworkers and blacksmiths to provide the sign board and framing elements. In the 19^th century, increasing emphasis on lettering in sign paintings paralleled rising levels of literacy, until tavern and inn signs featured lettering and graphic designs alone instead of pictures. Even the shape of the sign changed with the times, from vertical to oval to horizontal.

Sign for Collins’ Hotel, circa 1820s. Naugatuck, Connecticut.

The desire to attract attention encouraged the elaboration of signs with a variety of inventive devices, including wood carving and turning, decorative ironwork, gilded lettering, and painted surfaces made dazzling by the addition of ground glass, known as smalt. Even the weather played a role in embellishment, wearing away background surfaces to give the effect of low relief. When damage became too severe, or businesses changed hands, many signs were repainted with new names and designs, hence the difficulty faced by conservators.

As early examples of public art, tavern and inn signs provide insights into the society and travel practices of their time. As cultural objects, the designs and images of sign paintings document the radical change from a pre-modern agricultural society to the entrepreneurial, market-driven, and increasingly urban economy of the early Republic. Don’t miss this unprecedented opportunity to rediscover the vibrant imagery and humor of tavern and inn signs, and to reimagine the early American roadside as picture gallery.

Funding: Conservation of the tavern and inn signs was funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, Heritage and Preservation Grant Program, and the Getty Grant Program. The traveling exhibition and catalogue have been underwritten with grants provided by: The Henry Luce Foundation; the Connecticut Humanities Council; the Kohn-Joseloff Foundation; the National Endowment for the Arts; the Edward C. and Ann T. Roberts Foundation; and James B. Lyon. Additional support for the catalogue was provided by Furthermore, the publication program at The J.M. Kaplan Fund, and The American Folk Art Society.