Hind Sight

Hind sight is a wonderful thing. AT THE TIME, I thought this sign was perhaps the cleverest thing I had ever come up with ..... let me go back a little.
  There was a small restaurant available, not to far from where we lived, so, I rented it. First thing I did was to find a large grill for the kitchen, had a very hard time getting that installed, and we were up and running.
  Dennis worked the grill, had a couple of waitresses, Billie Clifton and another one whose name escapes me right now.
  We did a good breakfast, many local people, oil field workers, pumpers, laborers, and nice variety. Lunch was busy, had a nice business going in Marne, Ohio.
   Then, I felt we needed an outdoor sigh. I called a sign painter from Granville, Ohio, he came out, told him what I wanted, I remember he said, "Are you SURE that is want you want?" Without thinking, I told him that was what I wanted. He did the sign and we put it over the door.
  Marne was a small community, a lot of elderly folks, not much in Marne but a plumber, Dick Houston, Collins Gas Station, the Marne Methodist Church, and that was about it.
  My clever mind came up with this fantastic idea, "Eat under the golden arch."
  In retrospect, a foot is perhaps the worst symbol you could use for a restaurant. SO many jokes about it, and it has NOTHING to do with a restaurant.
  But NO ONE ever told me how stupid it was, probably very few, if any, understood it, and no one asked why we had a foot over the door. One lady, eating at the counter, oddly enough a French teacher in high school, understood, I think she called it, "The Arch de Oro," or something like that.
  If only someone had told me, but  they didn't.

Fotos..

The Masthead fotos ............................

On the left, my Grandaughter, Amanda, with my new Great Grandchild Brooklyn Jean Dilts.

On the other side, the corporate headquarters of the Longaberger Basket Company here in Newark, Ohio. I met Dave Longaberger and spoke with him on a number of occasions, a very nice man. I watched this being constructed, very unique.

Tahoe, beautiful, and I worked up there in the 50's and early 60's, before it got so commercialized. It was rustic beauty, and in those days we had it to ourselves. A narrow two-lane ran around the lake.

I trained and worked for Lincoln Fitzgerald at the Nevada Club. He was an icon in the industry, ran a warm friendly casino, was innovative, and took good care of his employees. He and the Nevada Club are all gone now, a BIG part of Nevada history that has been forgotten.

The Reno Arch as it was in the 50's, walked under this many, many times.

Stupid things I have done .... Number ONE

Years ago, we had a restaurant just outside of town, in the little area called Marne, Dooley's Diner.

It had originally been a small grocery store, then it was converted into a restaurant. One owner did quite well when they were working on a new freeway and all the workers ate there. When the freeway opened, he got smart a sold it.

It did well for a while, but they finally closed up.

Then I came along and re-opened it. We did a good breakfast trade and an even better lunch. There was some construction going on, and oil field workers who pumped the shallow wells around the area.

Shortly after we opened, in one of my moments of "good sense" lapses, I decided to have a sign painter do a big sign to hang over the door, 5' x 4'.

Now remember, we are in a small rural community, a lot of elderly people, retired farmers, a lot of good folks.

I called an old sign painter who actually painted, no vinyl, and he came from Granville out to our place after I called him. I knew what I wanted, but had nothing down on paper for him to look at.

We sat in a booth and I told him what I wanted ....

"I'm sorry, you want a what?"

"A big, gold foot, with a high arch."

"I thought that's what you said."

I thought it was a great idea, a takeoff of "Eat under the Golden Arch."

I think I was the only one who saw the humor in it. I had hoped to get sued by McDonalds or something, at least some publicity.

But nothing happened, just a decrease in business, very few saw any humor in the sign, a big yellow foot hanging over the door of a restaurant.

It did inspire a few comments, most of which were a little on the gross side and will stay unsaid.

I thought it was clever.