i just got done looking at garage mag #16 and read the article in the back about the last barn sign painter ,who has painted over 20,000 mail pouch signs in his life and was paid hardly anthing to do it just for the love. the story got me wondering if there is anyone or group taking care of the mailpouch barns that are left. i searched it and his son leads the preservation group which i was glad to see. but the sad thing is there are only about 1000 left in the country and 1/2 of them are bad off, any way being a sign collector was wondering if any one wanted to share some garage art (signs). or old photos of barn signs or maybe there is one near you that is old and weathered but still readable,this may have been covered before but that i would see what is out there.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mail_Pouch_Tobacco_Barn Was his name Harley Warrick? The Wikipedia article above mentions him...
Go to Google and type in Mail Pouch, or type in Ohio Barns. I don't know how to post the direct link or I would. It is an excellent site, shows current, past, then and now photos. It also shows signs painted on walls, and other barns such as the "See Rock City" for the Lookout Mt. attraction in Tennesse(I contributed one of those photos to the site), Thankfully I live in Ohio, were the majority are. You can literally be on the site for hours. It is good stuff...and one of my many interests. I included this one from the site, because it is very close to my house. The land is for sale, the house and farm have been abandoned for about three years and the days are numbered. I did get some old license plates from inside the barn!!
There's a few along the PA Turnpike- don't remember where exactly, but at least 2 between the Blue Route (495) and York, PA.
If I were you get the wood off the barn. Barn wood has a high price tag on it right now. I have had a customer tell me he paid $55,000 for all the wood planks that came off a barn in PA so he can use in his house.
That'd be one way to save the Mail Pouch sign. Number each board on the back before you take it apart though, or you'll have the world's toughest jigsaw puzzle.
thanks for the interest in the post guys , its funny you should say that about the giant puzzle ,his son warwicks son that is, is involved in dismanteling one now and they are moving it to the sign museum in cincinatti ohio, and you are right the old barn site is great hours of looking around on there ,this is just great old stuff great history of a simpler time ,
i chew mail pouch tobacco, but grew up in tennessee. The rock city barns are fairly common here, but i know where two mail pouch barns are. i will try to get a photo uploaded, i am infatuated with them and there is a good book on barn advertising that has a lot of old photos. rowdy
I made a special stop paying to get off, when I drove my 36 Ford beater P/U home about 25 years ago, just to get a picture of the truck in front of one of those barns. I didn't know if the old girl would make the 4 hr trip to her new home but I couldn't pass up the opportunity. I have no idea what ever happened to that picture. It made a great picture with the red brush painted truck. The truck looked at home. It could have easily been a 1940 picture.
Barnstorming for Mail Pouch Barns http://www.thebarnjournal.org/people/004/ http://www.ohiobarns.com/mpbarns/index.html
Read that article before setting out for the days chores. Inspiring and sad at the same time. We are losing more of those old barns everyday, replaced by ugly Tin buildings. That is one reason we built our shop/house to look "native" like the old barn down the road. I even have a wild hair to paint a sign on the backside, wonder what my neighbors to the north will think!?
there is a old one on 35 going north out of W.V. brother lives there i'll have him drive over and pic it .
Those are the links. The Ohio barn site will take you to around 1000 photos. Luckily for me in SW Ohio, I see them on a weekly basis. There is one in Georgetown Ohio, also not far from me is a barn that has all 4 sides painted in Mail Pouch advertising, they say it is the only one left like that. Unfortunately also in Georgetown Ohio they dismantled a Rock City barn, one of only 5 listed in Ohio that are left. The photo of the "late" barn is below.
Ohio was one of the states on my Dad's sales territory in the 70's and 80s. I used to ride along sometimes and had a good time spotting the Mail Pouch barns. Very cool.
Only problem with the big old barns is the amount of upkeep and money to maintain them. I am going to do my best to keep mine around as long as possible. It needs a roof now but that will have to wait till next year.
Tell me about it! The shell of my place is well over 50 grand. Hard for a farmer or rancher to take when a pole building goes up for a fraction of that!
this one "was" within walking distance of my grandparents. 2 kids about 4 years ago were out on a "roadie" when they lost control and hit the barn right at the left front corner. It killed them both of them. One was 16 and one was 19. The 16 year old lived in one of my grandpa's rental houses. They tore it down a couple years ago and filled the land. I can remeber almost every detail from when it was still a nice barn to the tear down. Its a shame. There are SEVERAL mail pouch barns near me. Search for ashland, mansfield ohio area Derrick
speaking of what farmers can afford like in the post above to restore or upkeep a barn, it was said in a article that was a huge reason why most farmers let the mail pouch sign be put on there barn, because it offered free painting of it!! as well as ,get this they were paid one to two dollars a month along with a supply of the chew , the dollar amount would be equvilant to around 45 bucks today,i have been thinging of putting one on the side of my garage ,just to pay tribute to a great time in history, once again thanks for the interest in the post i would pay for some snap shots from those near these barns if interested
Those aren't on topic, they're four-door sedans. Great post. Barn preservation is very important but sadly most farmers can't afford to do it. -Dave
Being born on a farm in Pennsylvania in 1944 old barn are near and dear to me. It really makes me sad to drive down the road and see one dying a slow death. The one across the road from me was torn down this summer. Some yuppies bought the place a year ago and have been steadily destroying the character of the place. Luckily they fell in love with the old farm house and it's slowly getting a restoration/rebuild. A new tin roof and a few side boards replaced would have saved the barn for 50 more years, but it wasn't in the cards. The guy that tore the barn down is a contractor and he told me every piece of wood including the beams would find a place in some of the new homes he has planned. At least its better than having it burned like a couple more in this area have had happen. Frank
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