Wanted - old street signs

ebineezer

ebineezer

Well-Known Member
Anyone have any old street signs lying around that they don’t want anymore? I am an artist and am currently working on a series of paintings on signs.

Let me know, thanks!
 

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Many years ago, I went dumpster diving for a few signs in the Flemington DOT yard. They had a couple big dumpsters with the swing open ends (20yd or 30yd) full of scrap signs from tiny to giant overhead highway sized. Of course, you cannot just walk into the yard without drawing unwanted attention. I picked up a dozen donuts on the way to the yard and walked into what must have been a break room after watching a few guys walk in and out. I stuck my head in and told the first guy that looked at me that I wanted some scrap aluminum for the floor of a race car I was building but that I didn't know if taking old signs OK. I made sure the donut boxes were visible while talking. He paused for about 5 seconds and said, "Go ahead." I walked over to the table he was sitting at and said "Thanks" while putting the donuts in front of him. I then grabbed a bunch of the biggest signs that fit in my car and drove off.

Those signs served as interior door panels, floors, and a switch panel in our 24 Hour of LeMons car and a couple other track cars.


EDIT: Top hat dude would be awesome on a t-shirt.
 
Man, if only i saw this post when i was in college. We "obtained" a lot of signs for our house. Very cool art!
 
qclabrat said:
Can you get these legally? Or does owning one equate to a misdemeanor charge. Looks neat anyways. @Carson?
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You can get these made and you can purchase them legally. Or you can obtain through bribery like @RetroGrouch. So simply possessing a road sign isn't a crime. Just make sure it doesn't have the NJDOT stamp on the back if one finds it's way into your garage.
 
All of the ones I have used were either given to me, or purchased from antique stores or FB marketplace.

Thank you all for the compliments. Both of these paintings have sold.
 
Carson said:
You can get these made and you can purchase them legally. Or you can obtain through bribery like @RetroGrouch. So simply possessing a road sign isn't a crime. Just make sure it doesn't have the NJDOT stamp on the back if one finds it's way into your garage.
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The donuts were not a bribe [wink]. They ensured that the room full of DOT employees remember the big, stupid looking dude who for asked for permission to dumpster dive and stuff his station wagon full of barely readable old signs. A reasonable person would assume that permission from a DOT worker is sufficient permission to take a piece of DOT garbage out of the DOT trash dumpster. I am definitely a big, fuzzy, walking Muppet but I am not a lawyer. GoPro your permission. Your mileage may vary. Eat your vegetables.
 
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