Museums have been around for a long time, for many years in fact. The mention of museums usually has us thinking of art or artwork displays. The American Sign Museum in Cincinnati, OH is an entirely different kind of museum. While you will find displays there and a certain kind of art, it's a museum, as you'll never imagine.
Started by Tod Swormstedt in 2005, the American Sign Museum in Cincinnati, OH is all about signs-big signs, little signs, old and new signs. Genetically, Todd has every reason to love signs, since his great-grandfather was the first editor or 'Signs of the Times', a magazine for and all about the sign industry. The magazine/journal, which was started in 1906, is still going with Tod's dad the president/CEO and his brother the editor/publisher. Tod wrote for it for 26 years and was the editor/publisher for a while.
When Tod decided to open the museum, he went to see the publishers of Signs of the Times. His startup money of $200,000 came from his family's company, ST Media Group, who supported the idea wholeheartedly.
When the museum opened, the building had 3,800 feet of space for exhibits
from 1960 and earlier being the most wanted. Whether the signs are neon, porcelain, gold leaf glass or paint, he gets them all. His goal is to get as many signs as he can from as many materials and as many parts of the world as he can.
When the townspeople first heard of the museum, they underestimated what it was all about and assumed it was filled with old junky signs. That's until they came to view the displays. Most people can't take their eyes off all the displays once they enter the museum. Some of the most popular items are a pair of eyeglasses, a large boot, a globe circled by a ring of neon cars, a neon windmill and probably the earliest painting anyone ever seen of Col. Sanders.
The museum, a non-profit organization, was originally started in 1999 under the name National Signs of the Times Museum, but was changed in 2001 to American Sign Museum, its present name. The museum is inside the Essex Studio building and consists of an 800 square foot lobby, a display area 3800 square feet, an 1100 square foot restoration shop and an 800 square foot room for storage of an overflow of signs that are restored.
The main purpose of the American Sign Museum is to inform and educate the public of the use of the sign industry and its importance in the world.
