I like old things. And this, long before I myself became an old thing. It’s not really about nostalgia. Most of the old things I like are older than me and have little to do with personal memories. Three things attract me to certain old things: 1) it’s well-made, 2) it’s functional, and in its day, a common object, and 3) it was a device for communicating. So, old things I like in particular are old cameras, old typewriters, and old signs. Back in their day, these were tools people used to interact and communicate with each other.

The Peoples Cafe sign hangs outside an old building in downtown Jackson, MS. I think the cafe is gone now. The sign is a classic! I don’t know if “Peoples” is a name or a statement. But the sign does its job in the visual language of its era, pointing down to the cafe’s entrance just below.

I can imagine a guy (because in those days, it was almost always a guy), in the back of a sign-maker’s shop, following the work order, applying his experience and skill to craft this sign. And then moving on to the next order. Just doing his job. His job was to make a thing that told people, “Here is a place to eat.” And he did it in a style recognizable to the people of his day. As a visual “language,” the sign has a particular “accent.” He probably gave no thought to the idea that his work would also communicate to others later on that here also is a witness to his time, an artifact of people interacting with each other.