Billboards Advertising Our History

The demolition several years ago of a store in downtown Santa Ana uncovered remnants of cultural history: century-old advertisements for “5 Cigars,” “Forex Flour” and other products painted on a brick wall next door.

The ads, hidden from public view for decades, represent a style of billboard popular through the 1940s in an era before strict sign regulations and the concept of “visual pollution.”

Most of the old billboards were covered up after World War II as styles evolved and businesses changed hands. But historians are fighting--often in vain--to preserve the few remaining advertisements.

“They tell us so much about the community, from the kinds of products people used to buy to the hopes and dreams of the merchants,” said Barbara Milkovich, a member of the Orange County Historical Commission. “They are important pieces of our cultural history.”

A few old billboards have been preserved, most notably in Old Towne Orange. But many others have faded with age or have been lost altogether when the buildings they graced were razed.

Milkovich and other Huntington Beach historical buffs worked in vain to save several stylish billboards revealed in the late 1980s during a downtown redevelopment project. The most popular was a 50-year-old sign for 7-Up done in ornate period lettering.

“It was such an exciting discovery of something that hadn’t been seen for 40 years,” said Jerry Person, a Huntington Beach historian and writer. “The colors were so fresh. It was something that was lost and then found again.”

City officials, however, could not find a way to preserve the ads, and the buildings were eventually torn down.

The Santa Ana billboards have been visible for many years next to a vacant lot on 4th Street. City officials said the wall will probably be covered up again when a new building is erected at the site.

Roger Kooi, Santa Ana’s downtown development manager, said the city examined the ads and found they have little historical value. The billboards are so faded that restoration would be difficult if not impossible, he said.

Residents don’t always share preservationists’ enthusiasm for the vintage ads, either.

Hector Gonzales, a 22-year-old Santa Ana college student shopping on 4th Street recently, said he doesn’t see much point in keeping the old artwork. “It looks like graffiti,” he said.

A few other billboards remain in Santa Ana, including one on the back of the Yost Theater that reads: “Cine Yost Santa Ana. La Ciudad de Oro. Cine Y Variedad.” The words are Spanish for: “Yost Cinema Santa Ana. The City of Gold. Cinema and Variety.”

An ad for Dr Pepper remains on the side of a Main Street auto shop, now housed in what was formerly a grocery store.

Elsewhere, billboards are being preserved largely by chance. Dana Point historian Doris Walker recently discovered a vintage lodging ad on the back wall of the Dana Villa Motel when he was strolling through Doheny Park.

“I was surprised to see it because I never knew it was there,” said Walker, author of “Home Port for Romance.” “I guess it stayed there so long because they never painted that side of the building.”

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In Irvine, a brick wall with the painted logo for the Frances Citrus Assn. packinghouse was saved when the historic structure was demolished in the early 1970s. The wall is now in a bank at the Heritage Square Shopping Center, historian Judy Liebeck said.

The most successful preservation effort, however, is in Old Towne Orange, where the city adopted an ordinance requiring that property owners leave the ads intact when retrofitting buildings to meet earthquake standards.

The historic district is home to more than half a dozen billboards. On Glassell Street, an ornate “Bank of America” logo is partially covered by an even older “Bank of Italy” sign. A few blocks away, “Owl Cigars 5” is printed in 2-foot-tall block letters.

The Orange Community Historical Society has talked about restoring some of the ads, though city officials said they would first want to make sure that any rehabilitation would not hurt the billboards or the old bricks.

Daniel Ryan, a senior planner for the city, said the billboards add to the city’s turn-of-the-century charm.

“They are considered a part of the character of the area,” he said.