Durham, NORTH CAROLINA - Holiday Inn - ROADSIDE AMERICA ADVERTISING

Description: Durham, NORTH CAROLINA - Holiday Inn - ROADSIDE AMERICA ADVERTISING - 1965: Durham is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County and Wake County. The City has a population of 283,506 according to the 2020 census. Holiday Inn is a multinational brand of hotels, part of the LSE-listed InterContinental Hotels Group. Originally a U.S. motel chain, today it is one of the world's largest hotel chains, with 435,299 bedrooms in 3,463 hotels globally hosting over 100 million guest nights each year. The hotel chain is based in three cities: Atlanta, London and Rio de Janeiro. The "Great Sign" is the roadside sign used by Holiday Inn during their original era of expansion in the 1950s-1970s. It was perhaps their greatest advertising. It was extremely large and eye-catching but was expensive to construct and operate. The manufacturer of the sign was Balton & Sons Sign Company. In shop sketch artists Gene Barber and Roland Alexander did the original design of the sign. Original engineering drawings were also done by Roland Alexander of Balton & Sons Sign Company. Wilson had very specific demands about how the sign should be designed. He wanted a sign that no road traveler could miss. It should be at least 50' high and be seen in both directions. He also wanted a marquee so the inn could welcome different groups to the hotel. The original sign cost $13,000. The story goes that the sign’s colors were selected because they were favorites of Wilson’s mother. The popularity of the sign led to many clones being produced, some of which remain to this day. In 1982, following Wilson's departure, the Holiday Inn board of directors made the decision to phase out the "Great Sign" in favor of a cheaper and less catchy backlit sign. The decision was not without controversy as it essentially signaled the end of the Wilson era and removed a widely recognized company icon. Wilson was angered about this, saying, "It was the worst mistake they ever made". Wilson so loved the sign that it was engraved on his tombstone. The majority of the signs were sold as scrap metal and recycled. This Photochromatic card shows the Durham North Carolina Holiday Inn with the Great Sign in evidence on the card's reverse. This Photochromatic postcard, mailed in 1965, is in good condition. Curteichcolor 3-D Natural Color.

Price: 8.5 USD

Location: Brooklyn, New York

End Time: 2024-08-21T03:07:01.000Z

Shipping Cost: 0 USD