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Kings Shoes (Gone)
Emeryville, CA
Photo courtesy Devil Doll

Check out the old rooftop marquee for Kings Shoes in Emeryville. This longtime shoe business was part of the city’s earlier shopping district, with a sign that announced the name well beyond the storefront window.

Along the San Pablo Avenue corridor, local retailers once supplied a varied collection of signs above the sidewalk. Kings Shoes belonged to that shopping scene, when finding a new pair could mean heading to a specialty store and taking a look at what was on display.

The elevated marquee gave the shop a presence among its neighbors. Even without footwear on the shopping list, there was something worth catching with the camera before continuing along the strip.

This view preserves that earlier look, before the sign disappeared from the business it once advertised. Another familiar name above an Emeryville storefront has slipped out of the everyday scenery.

UPDATE: Kings Shoes has closed, and its vintage marquee was removed. The old photo keeps a piece of Emeryville’s former shopping district in view. 09-26

Eagles Hall
Alameda, CA
Photo courtesy Devil Doll

Look up at Eagles Hall in Alameda and check out the large eagle perched above its vertical neon sign. Here’s a marquee with a proper lookout on top, giving the hall a presence that’s hard to miss from the street.

Installed around 1955, the blade sign identifies the home of the Fraternal Order of Eagles, Alameda Aerie #1076. The hall serves as a social gathering place and venue for dances and events, with the eagle keeping watch over arrivals.

The combination of neon lettering and a sculptural bird makes this more than an ordinary building sign. It’s a fitting bit of mid-century showmanship for a place where people came together for an evening out.

UPDATE: Eagles Hall remains active in Alameda, and its vintage neon marquee and large eagle survive. 09-26

Christian Science
Alameda, CA
Photo courtesy Devil Doll

Here’s a little streamline style outside the former Christian Science Reading Room in Alameda. The sign’s mid-century design gives this quiet neighborhood storefront a distinctive look, worth noticing among the nearby commercial marquees.

The reading room was affiliated with Alameda’s First Church of Christ, Scientist, established in 1903. Its activities later moved to a location beside the church, leaving the older storefront sign as a reminder of its previous home.

UPDATE: The historical reading-room sign survives at the former location, while reading-room services operate beside the main church. 09-26

Hollywood Furniture (Demolished)
Oakland, CA
Photo courtesy Devil Doll

Faded lettering once stretched across the rooftop sign at Hollywood Furniture Mart in Oakland. Even as the name became harder to read, the large framework kept the old store’s presence above the commercial strip.

The furniture business appears in local directories and advertisements from the late 1940s and 1950s. Along MacArthur Boulevard, its rooftop marquee helped announce a place to shop for the next sofa, table, or roomful of furniture.

UPDATE: Hollywood Furniture Mart is gone, its building demolished and rooftop sign removed. 09-26

Moulin Rouge (Demolished)
Oakland, CA
Photo courtesy Devil Doll

A neon windmill once added some motion to the Oakland skyline at the Moulin Rouge. The themed marquee and adult-film lettering caught the theater in a later chapter of a history that began well before those movies appeared on the bill.

The venue opened in 1908 as the Gem Theatre. After an extensive remodel, it reopened as the Moulin Rouge in 1932, presenting burlesque and vaudeville before moving into adult cinema around 1940.

Its animated red-neon windmill gave the building a fitting namesake attraction. Turning blades above the theater made this a particularly unusual find among Oakland’s old entertainment signs.

UPDATE: The theater ceased operating around 1970 and was demolished in 1998 for the Gem Building development. The developer reported selling the windmill sign to a private buyer for $300 during demolition. 09-26

Jack & Judy's Playhouse (Closed)
Oakland, CA
Photo courtesy Devil Doll

The name on Jack & Judy’s Playhouse leaves a little to the imagination. Check out the old Oakland marquee, carrying a pair of names that give the place a distinctly neighborhood feel. Just what kind of “playhouse” was waiting behind the door isn’t clear from the sign alone.

The marquee offers a glimpse of a business that has left little easily traced history. No grand opening date or long list of former owners here, just an old name preserved above the storefront. Sometimes that’s how a roadside discovery begins, with a photograph and a question.

UPDATE: Jack & Judy’s Playhouse is closed. 09-26

Island Market
Oakland, CA
Photo courtesy Devil Doll

A neighborhood grocery stop turns up at Island Market in Oakland. Located along High Street, the store is a short distance from Colonial Chapel, giving this stretch more than one old commercial sign to watch for.

The market serves the surrounding residential neighborhood, offering the sort of stop that fits between home and the rest of the day’s errands. A few groceries, something to drink, or an item forgotten on the larger shopping trip can be reason enough to head through the door.

Its storefront signage gives the business a recognizable place along the street. Markets like this are part of the everyday scenery, often familiar to nearby residents long before someone passing through notices the name above the entrance.

UPDATE: Island Market continues operating in Oakland, and its exterior market signage survives along the High Street commercial corridor. 09-26

Colonial Chapel
Oakland, CA
Photo courtesy Devil Doll

Check out the clock and neon lettering on the Colonial Chapel marquee in Oakland. Here’s a funeral-home sign with some attention given to its design, combining script lettering with a timepiece that passing neighbors could use whether or not they were visiting.

Established in 1941, Colonial Chapel occupies a Colonial Revival-style building in the Maxwell Park district. The traditional architecture and projecting marquee give the property a recognizable appearance along High Street.

The clock is a particularly nice detail, turning the sign into a small public convenience as well as an advertisement. Imagine the lettering glowing after dark, with the hands still marking the time above the sidewalk.

UPDATE: Colonial Chapel remains open under family ownership. Its vintage neon-and-clock marquee survives on the building, retaining one of the property’s most distinctive roadside features. 09-26