With so much focus on our YouTube channel, the blog and our written content has been getting ignored. I decided to remedy that by taking a look back at some photos we have taken on this day in previous years. While doing that, I noticed a bit of a theme emerged and that was “signs”.
Our first stop is historic Fort Macleod in southern Alberta. We captured a number of great signs on our way through town last year on this day.
Opening in 1912, the Empress Theatre features a classic sign which can be seen in the movie “Ghostbusters: Afterlife”, which is actually the reason we stopped.
The Empress Theatre is significant as one of the last remaining examples of small town theatre architecture in Alberta. As the last remaining theatre in Fort Macleod, the Empress is also representative of the social and cultural life of the town since the theatre’s construction in 1912. SOURCE: EMPRESS THEATRE. Historicplaces.ca – historicplaces.ca. (n.d.). https://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=5891
Photo by Emily Overes, October 30, 2022 Nestled in the small town of Fort MacLeod, Johnny’s Restaurant offers a unique blend of Chinese and Western cuisine at affordable prices. The establishment boasts a clean and friendly ambiance with a mix of historical and modern interior design elements. SOURCE: Johnny’s Restaurant in Fort MacLeod – Restaurant reviews. (2023, September 29). Restaurant Guru. https://restaurantguru.com/Johnnys-Restaurant-Fort-MacLeod
Photo by Emily Overes, October 30, 2022
Every small town on the prairies needs a Chinese restaurant and one way to tell a good restaurant is a classic neon sign like this one from the New Silver Grill Restaurant.
First opened in 1910, the Silver Grill Restaurant has been a historical foundational pillar for Fort Macleod as the oldest operating restaurant in Western Canada. SOURCE: History. (n.d.). New Silver Grill Restaurant. http://www.silvergrill.ca/history.html
Photo by Emily Overes, October 30, 2022
This sign hangs outside the former Greyhound Station and was a familiar sight to me when I used to make multiple trips per year between Calgary and Lethbridge on the bus in the early 1990s.
Photo by Emily Overes, October 30, 2022
And, this sign tour would not be complete without the Queens Hotel.
The Queen’s Hotel was one of the first buildings in Fort Macleod to be built of sandstone. It was built in 1903 to replace an earlier, smaller, wood-frame hotel of the same name. SOURCE: Rkelland. (2015, March 25). Queen’s Hotel, Fort MacLeod. RETROactive. https://albertashistoricplaces.com/2013/01/15/queens-hotel-fort-macleod/
Photos by Emily Overes, October 30, 2022
It’s not just neo signs that we love. We’re also big fans of signs painted on the sides of buildings such as on the American Hotel.
The American Hotel
Photo by Emily Overes, October 30, 2022
And, it’s not just Fort Macleod that we have photographed on this day. Back in 2015 we stopped to check out the Mill City Museum in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Featured prominently is this industrial-sized sign proudly proclaiming “Gold Medal Flour”.
Soon after Minneapolis was born on the Mississippi’s west bank, the city’s flour milling industry skyrocketed. Powered by the mighty river and fed by boxcars of grain rolling in from the plains, the industry gave Minneapolis bragging rights as the “Flour Milling Capital of the World.” Explore where old mingles with new at Mill City Museum, built into the ruins of what was once the world’s largest flour mill. SOURCE: Mill City Museum | Minnesota Historical Society. (n.d.). https://www.mnhs.org/millcity
Photo by Emily Overes, October 30, 2015
Hopefully you enjoyed a look back at some of the photos we have taken on this day. Maybe I’ll make this a regular feature?
Yeah I always notice all the old painted walls in downtown Calgary with signs all faded that advertised all kinds
of long forgotten establishments , thanks 😊
DanOCan 
Yeah I always notice all the old painted walls in downtown Calgary with signs all faded that advertised all kinds
of long forgotten establishments , thanks 😊
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