McDonald's Speedee Outdoor Neon Sign
Name/Title
McDonald's Speedee Outdoor Neon SignEntry/Object ID
2008.0002.0001Description
The massive, double-faced porcelain enamel and neon sign was mounted on two poles, which were covered with sheet metal so as to serve as the bottom section of the arch. The animated "Speedee" character relates to McDonald's "Speedee Service System," imprinted in the porcelain sign face just below the "McDonald's" neon copy. McDonald's coined the catchy phrase long before we identified with the term "fast food." This example of the iconic "Speedee" single-arch sign originally identified one of several franchise stores in Huntsville, AL owned by the Steve Johnson family. Richard McDonald created this sign design in 1952. The sign went through several evolutions over time, including the removal of the "15 cents' in the sign Speedee is carrying and the replacement of the original "ONE" neon with "99." The sign was threatened with destruction when the family planned to expand the store in 2008 and needed to move the sign closer to the street. The city would not grant a variance to move the sign and re-install it: A sign such as this is "grandfathered," meaning although it is too large for the current sign code, it is permitted to remain as long as it is not moved. Various options were explored to keep the sign in its native Huntsville area, but the cost of moving and restoring the sign to a local park or other public place proved to be too much.Collection
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