Sign of the times

Old Dry goods store

Cherryvale Kansas

Every small town in America that has brick buildings from the early to mid twentieth century most likely has a written history of commerce and advertising from when these towns were vibrant centers of communities. Some still are vibrant today, most are not. What is written here is passed by each day by folks as they cruise to Walmart in their air conditioned SUVs.
The purpose of the writing was to advertise to people who might have passed by slower than those passing today. Some may have found it tacky, some may have found it creative. Today I find it a source of new photos as do countless other photographers. It wasn't realy graffitti, or Cave art or Petroglyphs or even Hieroglyphics, it didn't seem to be an artists expression of their relationship to the universe, it just sold stuff. And sometime it foretold the future. Nowadays the poster has replaced the paintbrush. The circus was coming to town.