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“Come In! It’s COOL Inside!”
posted by
barring
on
April 24, 2007 at 7:35 am
Does anyone out there have a photograph of the old banner used on the marquee of Cinemas: “Come In! It’s COOL Inside” As I recall, it was made of blue satin and had an iceberg with a little penguin either on the iceberg or off to the side…..
Brad
Comments (8)
Brad- I don’t have a photo, but these banners were once very common. They hung along the bottom edge of the marquee. The ones I remember in my area (eastern-MA) were light blue, with rows of white icicles pointing downward. I recall them from the late-1940s onward.
Hi Brad… Perhaps JOSEPH MUSIL -the fabulous theater designer and renowned architect in Santa Ana, Ca, can be of assistance. Call him at 714-667-6959 or
Good Luck -Simon
I have a photo from 1929 of the Lincoln Square Theatre in Decatur,Illinois showing a sign hanging under the marquee. It is a bit different that the one you describe. This sign is probably 4-5 long and 2-3 feet high. It has icicles running along the top and bottom and a polar bear standing on a block of ice to the right of the sign. The wording shouts “BEAT the HEAT”. Even those words had small icicles hanging from them.
A few years later, a sign hung under the marquee that proclaimed, “AIR COOLED”.
http://framinghammass.info/St%20George.htm
Here’s one that says “Comfortably Air Conditioned”.
Barring, I have a photo I can email you if you wish.
Well i have one made of silk gold, blue lettering, white back ground with tassels on the bottom and says
Air Conditioned comfort all welcome its about 10' long and 12" wide it was in two parts i have the first one the other was destroyed in hurricane Charley i have a picture ill have to post all my pictues on a site for all to see!
As I remember, this sign was on stores which had air conditioning as well as cinemas. The lettering read “KOOL” rather than “COOL”, and the penguin was Willie the Penguin, an advertising mascot of Kool cigarettes. Smoking had a better image back then. The slogan would make a nice epitaph today.
KOOL Harry.