Posted by:
Berwyn Frank
(---.lightspeed.cicril.sbcglobal.net)
Ok, this is not a Chicago street sign, but a Chicago sign none the less.
For the past few years I have been trying to track down a "vintage" Vienna Beef sign after seeing one in the Blues Brothers movie as a kid. If you remember the scene in the soul food cafe on Maxwell Street, there is one on the back wall of the counter. That one however, advertises Polish Sausages (which I preferred in a sign). Here is the clip where you can clearly see the sign in the first 15 seconds:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qE41YPdPuis
Well, needless to say I FINALLY found a *similar* sign. Mine advertises pure beef "Red Hots" instead of pure beef "Polish Sausage." Other then that the signs are virtually identical. I had always wondered why I couldn't find one, there are always old metal signs surfacing but I found out why. My sign is 3'X2' and is NOT made out of metal (nor do I believe the one in the movie is either), it's made out of a hard "press board" and hand painted. (Not hand painted by an individual, but hand painted by someone for the Vienna Beef Company.) This is the reason I believe that not many survive. I'm sure that many were tossed out because of their delicate construction or faded or deteriorated from being put in a window or nailed to the outside of a building. I studied the scene in the Blues Brothers movie over and over and the signs are absolutely identical in every detail with the exception of the words "Red Hots" as opposed to "Polish Sausage." I would have rather had the Polish Sausage sign but am happy with the Red Hots version. Afterall, what could be more Chicago then Red Hots! I actually found the sign on craigslist and bought it for what I thought was a steal.