What a difference a year makes…
No, this sign on 1900 Broadway in downtown Oakland isn’t new, you can just finally SEE IT thanks to some recent construction and the (somewhat unfortunate) removal of the adjacent trees. The Tapscott building was built in 1925 as an office and retail building. It’s had a colorful life to date and was even a morgue once. Currently, the Beaux Arts exterior is being restored and converted into 5,000 square feet of retail and 34,000 square feet of office space. From the developer’s page it looks like the signs are being incorporated into the design. Score one for historic preservation!
So about those signs… There are three on the wall in an EXCEPTIONAL and ornate faux framing. Let’s take them from the top down.
Sign #1 - Skaggs
SKAGGS
BROADWAY MARKET
A chain of grocery and drug stores in the West and Midwest, Skaggs Markets opened in 1915 in American Falls, Idaho and spread to California by the early 20’s. Skagg’s was a predecessor to both Safeway, Albertson’s and Longs Drugs, helping establish what we now think of as a chain store.
At one point, there were Skaggs Markets on 11th Street, Ninth Street, 16th Street, Fruitvale, Piedmont, College, San Pablo, Shattuck, and two on both East 14th and Broadway.
Skaggs Market ad from the Oakland Tribune November 27, 1923
Here’s a detail of the GREAT finger pointing to the location of the Skaggs, located in the bottom floor of the Tapscott Building.
Sign #2 - The Department Store vs The Market
Uprich--’s L-O---V MARKET
Department
Store DAYS
13th and Washington Street
We give “S&H” Green Stamps
There are two, maybe three signs layered on one another in the middle of the sign. There’s definitely an Upright's department store sign in there, as well as a more faded market sign. It was the Upright's that was on 13th and Washington and carried S&H Green Stamps. S&H Green Stamps were a line of trading stamps popular from the 1930s until the late 1980s as part of a rewards program. Customers would receive stamps at the checkout counter which could be redeemed for products in the S&H catalog. At their height, it is said they issued three times as many stamps as the US Postal Service.
And what are S&H Green Stamps? S&H Green Stamps were a line of trading stamps popular from the 1930s until the late 1980s as part of a rewards program. Customers would receive stamps at the checkout counter which could be redeemed for products in the S&H catalog. At their height, it is said they issued three times as many stamps as the US Postal Service.
Sign #3 - Ground Gripper Shoes
This is a SENSATIONAL sign
Ground Gripper
Shoes
Best For All Feet
520 16th St. Oakland
687 Market St. San Francisco
You have just got to love the illustrations of the foot and the shoe sole here That is quality sign painting work, without a doubt. And who doesn’t love slip proof, extra gripping shoe soles (people who maintain the floors of historic buildings, that is who)?
I also have to give a shoutout to whomever added the cigarette graffiti to the sign. For some reason - and I couldn’t even tell you why - I really appreciate the aesthetic of that addition, even if that is blasphemy for a sign geek to say.
